If any of you guys are using the Zebra handhelds, I'd love to know what glitches, problems and frustrations you're having with them...What things annoy you and bug you about them?
I'll start...Half the time you get error messages and cannot login into the darn things, when you can even find one and yet, you have all these tasks you need to complete...And you can't change prices anymore manually...Because of that, you end up throwing away a lot of product that just doesn't sell that could at least get sold, if you were to mark it down cheaper...And if you ask me, that's a lot of waste for a company that is supposed to be about "zero waste"! Another thing is that I noticed when I marked down one item one day, it gave me one price and if I marked down the exact same item the very next day, it gave me a totally different price on the same item...So, if a customer sees the two items, side by side, which one do YOU think they're gonna buy??? What it does is confuse people! And it's confused the managers! And then, you see these odd prices as if they're trying to squeeze out every last penny from the customers, whereas before, the prices were a bit more reasonable...Prices are not even half-off anymore, but 10 to 20 cents more than that and very inconsistent depending on the item...If you haven't noticed that, take a look next time you're marking stuff down...Yeah, great going with this wonderful new technology!!! WHO programmed this system anyway??? A fifth grader???
There are plenty of other things if you want to get in deep and go into detail about it, but I want to hear your concerns...What would YOU change about the Zebras???
I like using the Zebra. I have been using one since Thanksgiving 2021.
If you are getting errors, try rebooting it. Hold down the button(upper right edge) you use to get the screen saver to open up. It will ask if you want to restart and do so. Fixes it most of the time.
It runs smoother than the Telxon. I use it overnight, so it may run good for me because I don't share the bandwidth with too many coworkers. Occasionally, there is a speed issue probably due to maintenance.
It would be better if they would stop making me watch the intro pages for Baler, MyDay and Metrics. I have been making 7 bales a week for the last 10 years. I know where the barcode label goes.
It would be even better if I was able to see the BOH change, Allocation change and Minimum change and who did it.
I hate having to do all the scans that literally do nothing to make my job easier. It leaves less time to get the real work done. I also hate the fact that when I get there in the morning, they're all gone because apparently everybody on the overnight stock crew has to have one now. Even if there's on available, it doesn't have any juice left in it.
they need one all inclusive screen where you can check and change boh, allocations, and mins hate the fact that they are all in different places. makes it where i don't even want to manage my numbers.
they need one all inclusive screen where you can check and change boh, allocations, and mins hate the fact that they are all in different places. makes it where i don't even want to manage my numbers.
The Search app would be a great place to add those features. They turned those features off(Lows & holes) on the telxon at first. Now, we are able to use them again. It takes about a day for the min change to convert to the zebra.
The reason everything is on separate screens is to make it hard for day grocery to cheat at the clerk process. Day crew is supposed to follow a process daily and that is when bohs and allocation are supposed to be corrected. The computer is supposed to correct the mins after they change numbers. My store has had a year to practice this process but skips it for one reason or another. "We'll start after inventory is done". Inventory was 2 months ago. "We'll start after the holidays." They don't have time, they are doing other things... Inventory will be around the corner soon.
I think one reason they can't do their jobs is because a new pick-up rule someone started. If pick-up can't find a product, they are supposed to find a grocery clerk and that clerk needs to stop what they are doing and find the product or zero it out immediately. Zeroing product that they can't find but is in the store creates backstock. The more backstock we have, the longer it takes to run it. I imagine they can't get much done because pick-up is interrupting them the whole shift.
If day crew would run backstock, replenish scan top stock, put shippers out in a timely manner and run/fill fast movers daily, pick-up would probably pester them less. It seems like the only thing day crew has time for is to run water pallets and assist pick-up. No time to do what they are supposed to be doing. And when they do have time, I am not sure what they do.
Night crew is supposed to run trucks and condition the store. When we have time(about 3 days a week), we run the top stock and most backstock. With the new MyDay app, each person spends about 30 minutes a night doing that instead of throwing stock on the shelf. Night crew as a group spend 5 hours doing clerical work daily instead of physically putting stock on the shelf. How is this speeding up the process and saving money? It just transfers the time to another task.
I hate it when the damn zebras freeze themselves up when delivering an online order outside. They're supposed to log in the final delivery time when delivering said order. It keeps counting down even though the d@mn thing freezes itself.
When trying to log in and scan items for an order, the thing will sat 'an error has occured' you literally have to beat the almighty sh*t out of the touch screen before it decides to register your log in info.
They are ok for simple inventory tasks, when they work. They highlight problems, like training, that will for sure never be fixed. The big problem is the company. Disrespect and malice behind every "system".
