Tips & Tricks

Tips & Tricks

n. Some things you just learn by experience.

NOTE: I suppose each of these little nuggets might some day be an entry by itself, but for now, here's the start of a growing collection:

A Cut Above. Making a TRAY- or WINDOW-CUT? Whenever possible, tip the CASE so you're cutting down from above. This allows the contents to settle away from the CUTTER blade, so you're less likely to damage anything inside.

Blacken Blades. Before loading new blades into the handle of your BOX CUTTER, take your MARKER and blacken one end of each blade on both sides, and put a dot on both sides of the unpainted tip. Then, when you load a new blade, use the silver end with the dot first. Later, after you've forgotten whether the other end of that blade is sharp or not, look at its back end. Black means sharp and unused. Silver means toss out the whole blade and get a new one from the cache in your handle. No thinking required!

Bottom Bags are Better. Speaking of settling, are you stuck STACKING slippery bags, like extra-wide pasta or powdered sugar? You'll find that those from the bottom of the CASE often have more of that annoying, air-bag puffiness squeezed out of them. So, use those flatter ones to form a kind of “sandbag dike” at the FRONT of the SHELF, and toss the top layers of puffiest, slipperiest bags to the back.

Cross-Tie Tall Stacks. Taking a cue from bricklayers, you can lay in a strip of CARDBOARD as a cross-tie part of the way up between pairs of tall STACKS and they'll be a lot more stable.

Divide & Conquer. It's OK to conserve CART space by putting more than one thing into a CASE, but...

Always make it very clear where one ITEM ends and the other begins. Two popular methods:

1. Stand one group of ITEMS on its head, and/or
2. Slip in a scrap of CARDBOARD as a divider between the two different things.

Then, give the next guy a break by writing “MIX” on the outside of the CASE to warn him there's more than one PRODUCT inside.

EVIL-STOCK-DUDE can slow you w-a-y down by not marking MIXED PRODUCT CASES, and thus causing you to sometimes have to waste steps and backtrack. Or, by not clearly dividing similar-looking contents, you may hit the ultimate snag of having to individually orient and read every LABEL.

Get Pushy. Never take the SHELF at FACE value. Gently push back on the ITEMS in front to see if the HOLE will TAKE more—especially for things like cake and brownie mixes, where you can't see past the 1- or 2-FACED BLOCK.

Go High in the Hole. For packages like facial tissues, which may have more than one “good” orientation, always opt for whichever arrangement fills the HOLE closest to it's ceiling. That way you'll get more PRODUCT to GO into the given space.

Hate Hangnails? Pull out those ice-cube-tray-style CARDBOARD dividers that keep jars separate inside a CASE. THROW the PRODUCT, then, if necessary, reinsert the divider. You might also make sure your diet includes sufficient vitamin C (really!), plus routinely dab some hand lotion around each fingernail at bedtime. Strengthen splitting nails themselves by regularly eating more Jell-o® or other gelatin PRODUCTS.

H-Cut Plastic Tops. Until you're sure it'll all GO, start with an H-CUT on top when you first open any plastic-wrapped CARDBOARD trays like spaghetti sauce or cat food. This keeps the CASE'S ends and edges tight, and helps maintain the package's integrity if it ends up on the SPECIALS CART or in OVERSTOCK.

Keep a Straight Face. Especially when building DISPLAYS for the FAST-WALL or EVZ, but also for END-CAPS and WINGS, make sure that what you do lines up neatly with the DISPLAY(S) to either side. The idea is for all DISPLAYS in a series to line up in a single, long, straight FACE, and for neighboring DISPLAYS such as END-CAPS and WINGS to likewise be neatly aligned.

Keep Your Balance. Ordinarily, you habitually take ITEMS out of the middle of a CASE first, to keep the sides strong just in case the rest gets STACKED on a RUNNER, or whatever. (See below.) However, there's an exception. If the CASE is being balanced on your lap, on a stool, or on a SHOPPING CART, etc., it's better to take from opposite corners first, and then alternate sides or edges so the center of mass of the entire CASE stays about in the middle, and thus minimizes the risk of the whole thing toppling over and breaking.

Mid-Case Goes First. If balance (see above) is not an issue, always try to take ITEMS from the middle of a CASE first. This keeps the ends and edges tight, and not only maintains the package's integrity, but also makes it more stackable if it ends up on the SPECIALS CART or in OVERSTOCK.

Minimize Steps. To the extent possible, try to avoid zigzagging up and down the AISLE, or back and forth across it. Every extra step you take slows you down, reducing your productivity. Look at what you've got, and plan your trip down the AISLE accordingly.

Move Less. If it's already on the SHELF, you save time by not moving it. That is to say, resist the temptation to tidy up, straighten and/or restack everything. We know it's not perfect, but you have too much else to do. So, only fix what really needs fixing, and then be sure that whatever you do THROW goes in nice and straight, LABELS-FORWARD, and beautiful. True perfection is getting the job done, not futzing with every detail.

Move Faster. Sounds obvious, but if you push yourself a little harder, you'll get a lot more done.

Offset a Set-Back Row. If it's round cans or jars, and there's a gap between the BLOCK at the FACE and the rest of the STOCK on the SHELF, or if there's a significant fractional can or jar's worth of wasted space at the front, you have an opportunity to get more up. Just shift a row of PRODUCT three or more rows back from the FRONT sideways, left or right, so that it's “hills” fit into the “valleys” of the row behind it, similar to the way the teeth of two gears mesh. Repeat the offset process as often as necessary to make the first three rows sit flush with the front edge of the SHELF, alternating left and right, and moving backwards towards the back of the HOLE. This compresses the distance between the centers of jars or cans in the offset rows, making a tighter “lattice” and thus more will GO to the SHELF. Candidates? Premium canned soups or tomato PRODUCTS, jars of spaghetti sauce, those little jars of baby food, etc. See PACKING THEORY.

Out'a My Way! If something is in your way, move it! or remove it! For instance, that BOX flap that keeps flopping down and annoying you? If you know the whole CASE is going to GO—cut it off! (The empty CASE is going straight into the CRUSHER anyway, right?)

Raise Your Roof. You can often JAM a few extra pieces of narrow things like gelatin or spaghetti BOXES at the very top of the HOLE, in between the reinforcing rafters on the underside of the SHELF above.

Save Face. Tight squeeze or awkward angle? Save your nerves and PRODUCT too. Before you accidentally knock anything over, take out any potentially endangered ITEMS next to the SPOT you're working and set them aside—e.g., on your CART. Finish your THROW, and then put the neighbors back safe and sound.

Shelf Out 1's & 2's. After you've filled the HOLE, yet have one or two pieces left over, don't bring them back! Instead, try to either gently JAM them into the HOLE or gracefully HIDE them nearby. The idea is to save your team time by reducing unnecessary handling. As for three extras, um, maybe. But, four or more should usually either stay on the SPECIALS CART or go into BACK-STOCK, as appropriate. Likewise, there are some single ITEMS that are so bulky, they just have to come back.

Squeeze 'n Shake. The contents of free-standing or SPRING-TRAYED bags like cookie mixes or rice and pasta side dishes tend to settle down to the bottom, turning the bags into little pyramids—wide on the bottom, skinny on top. By turning the bags over and giving them a quick squeeze or shake, you can sometimes flatten them out enough to fit a lot more on the SHELF.

Stack 'n Slide. In most circumstances, it's substantially faster to two stack cans in mid-air using two hands (ensuring LABELS-FORWARD, of course) and then slide the stacked pair into position than it is to reach deep into a HOLE with one can in one hand to stack it way back there.

Support Your Case. Whenever possible, support the CASE you're WORKING and you'll be able to THROW using both hands, which can be a lot faster.

• For a low HOLE, sit on a stool or CRATE with the CASE on the FLOOR or in your lap.
  
  
• Slightly higher, put the CASE on the stool or CRATE while you kneel, or squat with the case on your thighs.
  
  
• For average heights, set it on the end of a RUNNER'S shelf, or, if you're careful, you can sometimes even lean the CASE between your tummy and the SHELF.
  
  
• For top SHELVES, set it on top of a STACK of other CASES at one end of the RUNNER while you stand beside it on a stool.

The main idea is to keep both hands free, and to always minimize the travel distance between the CASE and the HOLE.

Take Two+ ...And Use Both Hands! Whenever possible, move more to the SELF faster by grabbing multiple units out of the CASE at once with each hand. For instance, two bottles of salad dressing in each hand puts four on the SHELF for each cycle. Three BOXES of flavored gelatin in each hand THROWS six. Even better, GANG-LIFT whole STACKS at once whenever you can.

Top Shelf Terrace? If you're desperate to make all of a top SHELF ITEM GO, consider SKYLINING the extra by laying down a solid scrap of CARDBOARD on top of what's already there and building upwards.

CAUTION: the extra top layer must be set well back, so at least two FACE ranks underneath it can be taken out without risk of toppling PRODUCT onto anyone's head.

Work Beside Your Runner. Your runner works as a “windbreak,” directing CUSTOMERS around you, and minimizes your obstruction of the AISLE. If you work across the AISLE, you may often have to wait for CUSTOMERS to pass by, and they'll see you as an even greater nuisance than you see them—so don't.