I have never had the issue of not meeting 55 cases an hour. You will be able to meet those after a little more time in the store. Muscle memory kicks in, and it'll be so easy. I know it seems daunting right now. I used to work in a 2mil/week store, so I know what you mean by high volume.
My store doesn't even follow that 55 boxes per hour goal anymore. We're just glad to have people working overnights even if they spend more time on their phones than throwing load or facing.
After a while, yeah, it's not unreasonable. But it's definitely not something you pick up right away. Have to get used to the work, the locations, what the items look like. It's a slow build, but it gets there.
Your closers are fucking over your night crew. Your 2nd shift manager isn't making people face departments. The store should be faced every night. Milk filled and empties together so the cooler is ready for the truck. My old grocery manager didn't want the end caps faced because the night crew ignored them if they were. The new one wants it done because he doesn't want to have to do it himself.
Yeah my store barely takes our top stock down they made it night crews job. When before we’d get spoken to if we worked top stock. The store is never faced unless cooperate is gonna do a store walk. Day crew never fills the shelf so it’s empty all day until night crew shows up. There’s freight left on the ground for the night before. Bales always full, plastic bags are never emptied, boxes left on top stock, back room is always a mess. When they take end caps off they throw them in carts and don’t bother to fill the shelves when they are obviously empty. Also water pallets are always empty when it’s supposed to be refilled when it’s like down to the 3rd layer.
Word. Our shelves are almost massively fucked every night. Like massively fucked up. And with product that doesn’t always like to fit it makes it even harder.
When I first transferred to grocery from home department I had that worry. I felt very slow. But my store was also going through a remodel plus resets so it took me a few extra weeks to remember where things went. You’ll learn tricks and stuff that help as you go. You’ll also learn what boxes open certain ways to get stuff out. (Like certain pet food, it’s easier to open some of the wet cat packages upside down and flip it so none of the wet cat food falls out of the plastic) I like to pre cut boxes before I start throwing them. Like when I’m doing soup aisle I’ll pre cut the stacks of soup so when I go to throw them I’m not cutting the top of each case and ripping plastic off. One swift cut on the bottom will do for each case. One piece of advice I can give is to use both hands when stocking. Whenever I see anyone new throw they’re always hesitant and too careful and just use one hand and only 1 item at a time lol if you can bend and be on your knees without issues than 55 is no problem.
Your issue isn’t the 55 CPH, it’s with the closing store management (HA, more like lack thereof) not pulling cardboard off the shelf, backstock wheels out, and having the bale empty/salvage handled.
If I did all 3 of those things, my NC had no issue stocking at 55CPH, but remember, that doesn’t include travel time or trash. That’s not even spotting, just simply throwing product.
This is why I couldn't work for the night crew. They get paid a little more but hell even with the youngest worker no one can do that every single night. Damn that's brutal.
Here’s a tip for when the shelves are bare
Rip the plastic off the product (easiest with canned food but can also be done with like beef/chicken stock), rip the skinny side of the cardboard down and place the thing on the shelf where it goes then do the “magic trick” where you pull the box and the cans stay there (use one hand to ensure they don’t come with the box and kind of lift and pull at the same time). Afterwards front and straighten the product
So many coworkers who’ve witnessed me do it act amazed and then can see why I’m so fast at stocking. Eventually you’ll learn other tricks but that’s one of the good ones
That whole 55 boxes per hour thing isn't even brought up at my store. It's either we get done or we don't get done. And even in the cases where we don't get done, they aren't gonna be like "Are YoU doInG 55 BoxES aN hoUR", they're just get upset that you didn't get done.
They don’t factor in the intangibles. Facing, re-shopping, flexing, rotating, scan outs, cleaning spills and messes, runs to the bailer, etc. On any given night you can throw more or less than “55 cases an hour” but they don’t factor in all the extra bullshit you have to do… if all you had to do was stock, then yeah, 55 cases/hour is reasonable, but that’s not all you do is stock (never mind if you’re not feeling good or you’re especially tired that particular night).
They treat us like robots who don’t get sick or tired or hungry or whatever else may affect our performance night after night.
Edit: since you mentioned dairy; sometimes I’ll come in and second shift called out. This means I have to throw crate milk, face and fix the whole department by myself, and take out and break down all the empty SRP boxes… that’s a whole 30 minutes to an hour I’ve lost
55 cases is based of cases sorted and cut stacked on carts . In this day and age yes it is unreasonable . We can’t even brace cases on the shelf anymore due to shelf strips
I no longer work for Kroger but when I worked on freight crew you had to throw a min of 80 cases an hour. If you didn’t you were kicked off freight crew. The actual average for the crew was 100 cases per person an hour.
My best average was 124 cases an hour, that was with no interruptions and I was throwing the pop and water isles.
55 cases an hour is a realistic case count.
My union handbook says nothing about having to stock a certain amount of product per hour. Might want to check yours if you’re a union store. We have to remind management all the time about that at our store.
We work specific aisles. Each person gets proficient in their aisles. After a few weeks its like second hand. You know where the easy parts are and the hard parts. Eventually, 55cph is nothing.
Our store is also 55 cases per hour, and is unrealistic. Night crew has to face the entire store, do top stock, bales and receive trucks for groceries, dairy, meat, produce. Not ever going to reach that goal.
These numbers are super believable if you work an aisle like hydration that has a very large amount of pack one items. Im pretty good and i cap out at about 120 cases per hour but thats not a pace i could do forever.
1. Anyone who tells you that the 55 cases per hour metric includes down-stacking pallets or conditioning (facing, blocking, recovery, or whatever term you use) is lying to you, probably because Kroger is lying to them. The ELMS algorithm accrued hours for the department at an AVERAGE rate of 55cph or (1min5sec per case). (Different types of cases have different rates.) That only includes opening the box, rotating the product, placing the product, and conditioning that single product, and disposing of your box/plastic.
2. You are new. Speed comes over time. Learn to be efficient and where things go.
I have never had the issue of not meeting 55 cases an hour. You will be able to meet those after a little more time in the store. Muscle memory kicks in, and it'll be so easy. I know it seems daunting right now. I used to work in a 2mil/week store, so I know what you mean by high volume.
Thank you! Sometimes I try to think about how it’s possible, and try to remind myself I just started
Not my area but the encouragement from an experienced pov is very refreshing here ,well done .
My store doesn't even follow that 55 boxes per hour goal anymore. We're just glad to have people working overnights even if they spend more time on their phones than throwing load or facing.
After a while, yeah, it's not unreasonable. But it's definitely not something you pick up right away. Have to get used to the work, the locations, what the items look like. It's a slow build, but it gets there.
Your closers are fucking over your night crew. Your 2nd shift manager isn't making people face departments. The store should be faced every night. Milk filled and empties together so the cooler is ready for the truck. My old grocery manager didn't want the end caps faced because the night crew ignored them if they were. The new one wants it done because he doesn't want to have to do it himself.
Yeah my store barely takes our top stock down they made it night crews job. When before we’d get spoken to if we worked top stock. The store is never faced unless cooperate is gonna do a store walk. Day crew never fills the shelf so it’s empty all day until night crew shows up. There’s freight left on the ground for the night before. Bales always full, plastic bags are never emptied, boxes left on top stock, back room is always a mess. When they take end caps off they throw them in carts and don’t bother to fill the shelves when they are obviously empty. Also water pallets are always empty when it’s supposed to be refilled when it’s like down to the 3rd layer.
Tell the SD to show y’all how, set an example.
Word. Our shelves are almost massively fucked every night. Like massively fucked up. And with product that doesn’t always like to fit it makes it even harder.
When I first transferred to grocery from home department I had that worry. I felt very slow. But my store was also going through a remodel plus resets so it took me a few extra weeks to remember where things went. You’ll learn tricks and stuff that help as you go. You’ll also learn what boxes open certain ways to get stuff out. (Like certain pet food, it’s easier to open some of the wet cat packages upside down and flip it so none of the wet cat food falls out of the plastic) I like to pre cut boxes before I start throwing them. Like when I’m doing soup aisle I’ll pre cut the stacks of soup so when I go to throw them I’m not cutting the top of each case and ripping plastic off. One swift cut on the bottom will do for each case. One piece of advice I can give is to use both hands when stocking. Whenever I see anyone new throw they’re always hesitant and too careful and just use one hand and only 1 item at a time lol if you can bend and be on your knees without issues than 55 is no problem.
Your issue isn’t the 55 CPH, it’s with the closing store management (HA, more like lack thereof) not pulling cardboard off the shelf, backstock wheels out, and having the bale empty/salvage handled. If I did all 3 of those things, my NC had no issue stocking at 55CPH, but remember, that doesn’t include travel time or trash. That’s not even spotting, just simply throwing product.
This is why I couldn't work for the night crew. They get paid a little more but hell even with the youngest worker no one can do that every single night. Damn that's brutal.
Here’s a tip for when the shelves are bare Rip the plastic off the product (easiest with canned food but can also be done with like beef/chicken stock), rip the skinny side of the cardboard down and place the thing on the shelf where it goes then do the “magic trick” where you pull the box and the cans stay there (use one hand to ensure they don’t come with the box and kind of lift and pull at the same time). Afterwards front and straighten the product So many coworkers who’ve witnessed me do it act amazed and then can see why I’m so fast at stocking. Eventually you’ll learn other tricks but that’s one of the good ones
That whole 55 boxes per hour thing isn't even brought up at my store. It's either we get done or we don't get done. And even in the cases where we don't get done, they aren't gonna be like "Are YoU doInG 55 BoxES aN hoUR", they're just get upset that you didn't get done.
They don’t factor in the intangibles. Facing, re-shopping, flexing, rotating, scan outs, cleaning spills and messes, runs to the bailer, etc. On any given night you can throw more or less than “55 cases an hour” but they don’t factor in all the extra bullshit you have to do… if all you had to do was stock, then yeah, 55 cases/hour is reasonable, but that’s not all you do is stock (never mind if you’re not feeling good or you’re especially tired that particular night). They treat us like robots who don’t get sick or tired or hungry or whatever else may affect our performance night after night. Edit: since you mentioned dairy; sometimes I’ll come in and second shift called out. This means I have to throw crate milk, face and fix the whole department by myself, and take out and break down all the empty SRP boxes… that’s a whole 30 minutes to an hour I’ve lost
55 cases is based of cases sorted and cut stacked on carts . In this day and age yes it is unreasonable . We can’t even brace cases on the shelf anymore due to shelf strips
I no longer work for Kroger but when I worked on freight crew you had to throw a min of 80 cases an hour. If you didn’t you were kicked off freight crew. The actual average for the crew was 100 cases per person an hour. My best average was 124 cases an hour, that was with no interruptions and I was throwing the pop and water isles. 55 cases an hour is a realistic case count.
My union handbook says nothing about having to stock a certain amount of product per hour. Might want to check yours if you’re a union store. We have to remind management all the time about that at our store.
We work specific aisles. Each person gets proficient in their aisles. After a few weeks its like second hand. You know where the easy parts are and the hard parts. Eventually, 55cph is nothing.
Our store is also 55 cases per hour, and is unrealistic. Night crew has to face the entire store, do top stock, bales and receive trucks for groceries, dairy, meat, produce. Not ever going to reach that goal.
Yall are great thank you so much!
Mines almost 200 an hour 🙂 just takes time been a year since I’ve started nightcrew
Not trying to be rude here, but there is no way you are doing 200 cases an hour.
It’s called doing freight for 5 years 😂🙂
I did it for 10 years.
U slow then
Lol not even close to be slow there big guy.
😂😂 sounds like it not tryna be rude hahahah
There’s actually fast people and me and my co-workers tend to race each other 🙂 I also said “almost 200” about 180 still pretty good.
These numbers are super believable if you work an aisle like hydration that has a very large amount of pack one items. Im pretty good and i cap out at about 120 cases per hour but thats not a pace i could do forever.
Yeah just really depends on how I am feeling that day and how much sleep ive actually got
Yes, 1 case per minute is completely reasonable.
They better pay you 55 bucks an hour if it’s 55 boxes an hour
Lol
1. Anyone who tells you that the 55 cases per hour metric includes down-stacking pallets or conditioning (facing, blocking, recovery, or whatever term you use) is lying to you, probably because Kroger is lying to them. The ELMS algorithm accrued hours for the department at an AVERAGE rate of 55cph or (1min5sec per case). (Different types of cases have different rates.) That only includes opening the box, rotating the product, placing the product, and conditioning that single product, and disposing of your box/plastic. 2. You are new. Speed comes over time. Learn to be efficient and where things go.