Make a BALE

Make a BALE

v. The process of emptying the full BALER, disposing of the BALE itself, and making the device ready for the next BALE.

NOTE: There are several variations on how to do this. Over the years, I've tried a few, and as a result, I've outlined below the method I think really works best.

It's really only a few simple steps, but with lots of added description in an attempt to make it as clear as possible. So, don't worry. It's much, much easer to do than it is to describe. And—because this way avoids many potential hassles—it's also the fastest way I know of, overall. You save a lot of time and trouble for the next person—which just might also be you.

So. Both better and faster. What's not to like?

HOW TO: Make a BALE

1. READY?—Collect “Lid” CARDBOARD In Advance
   • During your SHIFT, make sure to save up large, flat pieces of sturdy CARDBOARD—e.g., from SHIPPER cartons, Paper Towel CASES, etc.—and store them behind the BALER.
     
     
2. GET SET...—Verify, Clear Out Trouble, and Make a Lid
   
   
• VERIFY: Is it really time for a Bale?
• Is BALER halted, with grate down and red “Bale Made” indicator on control panel lit?
• YES?
• Definitely full, and time for a BALE!
  
  
• NO?
• CHECK and see if BALER is really full:
• CLOSE the BALER'S wire safety grate and PUSH the AUTO button to cycle the BALER as usual.
• WATCH the I-beam atop the compression platen. When it pauses at the lowest point of its travel cycle, compare its top edge to the top edge of the BALER'S side door. It should be not much, if any, higher than the top edge of the BALER'S solid side door.
  
  So, where is it? Is the I-Beam...
• BELOW door top by more than a few inches?
• Not enough for a standard BALE. Only continue if manager confirms go ahead. Otherwise, come back later.
• AT or NEAR door's top edge?
• Perfect! Time to make a BALE.
• ABOVE door top by more than a few inches?
• May be too full to easily make a BALE; consider taking out the excess to set aside. You can put it back in later, after you've finished making this BALE, when the chamber is once again empty.
  
  
• VERIFY: Got CARDBOARD for lids?
• NO?
• Uh-oh! Someone squished your stash behind the BALER! You need to find more in a hurry.
• Signal others to add no more CARDBOARD until BALE is made.
• Close safety grate, push AUTO to cycle BALER as usual, but at lowest point press the red EMER(gency) STOP button.
• Quickly scrounge around for suitable large flat CARDBOARD, starting with the Bakery's CARDBOARD dumpster. If all else fails, gather and break down six BANANA BOXES , e.g., from the Produce DEPARTMENT.
• Got BOARD? If necessary, pull out red EMER(gency) STOP button you may have previously depressed, and press and hold the MAN(ual) UP button until the safety grate rises.
  
  
• YES? Continue.
  
• Clear Out Trouble: No excess, No stuck fragments, No tape
• If there's a drastically irregular, sloped or otherwise uneven surface, or if there's simply too much jammed inside, it's easiest to just take out whatever you deem to be a potential problem, set it aside, and put it back in later, after the BALER is empty.
• Now, get a MILK CRATE to stand on (one should usually be nearby), and clean out any CARDBOARD fragments stuck up in the cracks around the underside of the BALER'S platen.
• Also make sure no tape is stuck up in any of the 6 wire-guide channels set into its underside.
  
  
• Put A Lid On It
  
• Make a top “lid” for the BALE by putting layers of the large flat CARDBOARD you've collected just for this purpose on top of the already compressed CARDBOARD inside the BALER. Hold aside enough flat stock to likewise make a bottom lid of one or two layers in a later step. The lids will help keep the channels open so you can more easily thread in the BALE WIRES later.
  
  
3. GO!—MAKE THE BALE
   
   
• Squish It Again
  
• Close the safety grate and cycle the BALER. When it reaches its bottom limit (listen for a change to a higher audible pitch), press and hold the MAN(ual) DOWN button to compress the BALE as tightly as possible.
  
  
• Open Wide
  
• Release the button and unlock the BALER'S side door by operating the wheel screw on the control side of the BALER. Then use the door handle to swing out the side door until it's wide open—past 90°—and expose the edge-on side of the BALE. The grate should also pop open by itself and lift out of the way as soon as you tug on the side door. If not, get help.
  
  
• Clear Away Junk
  
• Put an upside down MILK CRATE in front of the open BALER, get up, and inspect the top of the platen in its "down" position. Remove any CARDBOARD fragments. Pay special attention to any stuck down in the groove along the back edge, otherwise in the next step they might block your RAMROD.
  
  
Ream Out Channels

• Locate the large iron RAMROD pipe kept behind the BALER, and plunge it into the wire channels on the underside of the platen on top of the BALE until you make contact with the metal frame at the back of each channel. If necessary, use the RAMROD to break through any obstructing CARDBOARD, jack-hammer style. (If the lid you set in place earlier is thick and strong, it minimizes difficulties here.) If you're still unable to clear a particular channel, try the next one over. Your aim is to clear at least five of the six available channels.
  
  
• Get Bale Wire
  
• After the channels are cleared, go to the elevated BALE WIRE tray along the back wall and select 5 strands. Pull them out carefully, in a gentle arc, to avoid kinks and bends.
  
  
• Thread Wire Channels
  
• Starting with a channel on either outer edge, thread the individual strands one at a time, loop-end first into each of the channels, gently pushing the wires in until the loop protrudes about six inches out of the channel opening at the bottom of the BALE.
  
  If the wire becomes stuck, try to back it out for another try. If you can't, take the RAMROD you used earlier, wrap the tail of the stuck wire several times around it to create a handle, and carefully pull the wire out and discard it.
  
  Try again with a fresh piece of wire, this time feeding the straight end of the wire in first. If that doesn't work, remove it as before, and try the next channel. The goal is to feed at least 5 wires completely around the bulk of the bale. In a pinch, 4 may have to do, but is definitely not advised. In such a 4-wire case, consider the extreme measure of threading a second, reinforcing wire through an outside channel that has no threaded neighbor within a distance of two empty channels.
  
  
• Twist 'Em Tight
  
• One at a time, for each wire, thread the straight end of the wire into the hole of the looped end and take up most of the slack, so that while you pull on the wire the loop stands only a few inches off of the BALE surface, ideally only about a quarter to a third of the way up the face of the BALE from where the loop exited the channel. By leaving enough slack to pass your hand freely around the wire, you should avoid any paper cuts from the edge of the BALE as you twist the wire in a later step.
  
  Later, as pressure is taken off the compressed BALE, any slack you leave now will disappear anyway, so it's nothing to worry about.
• Right at the loop, put a hairpin bend in the straight wire so that it reverses direction at the point where it exits the loop. Then, reach behind the two lengths of wire with your other hand, and pull the middle part of the free-ended wire around to the front. As you do this, the loose end of the wire should catch the other wire segment at the edge of the BALE all by itself, and hold its position. The goal is to create a vaguely D-shaped handle out of the loose portion of the wire.
• Twist this D-shaped part of the wire around and around the tight portion of wire several times, until it has become too small to easily turn.
• Take the loose, pointy excess end of the wire and turn it around and under the wrapped wire so it won't poke you or anyone else as you work your way across the open face of the BALE.
  
  Again, other methods of tying BALE WIRE exist, but they are also more likely to cause the wire to slip or break.
  
  
• Place a Pallet
  
• When all wires are in place, get a solidly built PALLET (plastic or CHEP, not flimsy plain wood), and center it with its long edge about 5 or 6 inches from the foot of the exposed BALE.
  
  
• All Clear? Stand Back...
• 
  WARNING: You're about to put the BALE WIRES under great strain. If one or more wires break, it can be extremely dangerous. No one can dodge a supersonic wire whip. Not to mention, the BALE literally weighs a ton! So,...
  
• Get everyone and everything out of harm's way. Clear out the space at least 20 feet forward of the open side of the BALER. Ensure it stays clear until after the BALE has been safely ejected. ...Including you too!
  
• Stand off to the side of the BALER, and operate its controls from just around the corner.
  
  
• Eject!
• When all is clear, press and hold the MAN(ual) UP button to raise the BALER platen and then engage the kick plate that will tip out the BALE.
• The compressed CARDBOARD stack will expand and take up any slack left in the wires.
• If you wrapped them properly as instructed, and used the correct number, they shouldn't slip, and are unlikely to break.
• Continue to push the MAN(ual) UP button until the BALER'S bottom kicker plate has engaged, tipped the BALE forward, and caused it to topple out onto the PALLET you previously set in place.
• Trouble? NEVER let any part of your person get between the tipping BALE and the PALLET its falling towards, no matter if its slow or completely stuck. Don't get hurt—get help!
  
  
• Tote That Bale
  
• Get a JACK or POWER JACK and move the BALE and PALLET combination aside.
• If the GATE to the TRUCK is locked, DROP the PALLET so the BALE sits short-end-forward right in front of the GATE, but not so close that it obstructs the raising of the GATE'S protruding bottom lip.
• On the other hand, if the GATE is open, put the PALLET and BALE on the TRUCK, tight against the outer wall, making sure it's on the side opposite any previous BALE, if present, so the weights of multiple BALES counter-balance each other.
• Remember to add one to both the PALLET and BALE tallies in the appropriate columns of the SHEET kept at the RECEIVING desk.
  
  
4. MAKE READY
   
   
• Clean Out Scraps, Tape, etc.
  
• When you return to the BALER, pay special attention to the BALE WIRE channels at the back and along the bottom of the BALER cavity. They must be completely cleaned out.
• To begin, find a ready-to-recycle, sturdy BOX flap, cut it off, and you have a “broom.” If necessary, use it to sweep any loose CARDBOARD scraps or other debris resting on the bottom of the BALER chamber itself.
• Next, fold this same severed BOX flap in half to create a long, narrow U-shaped channel scraper. The rounded fold at the end does the work, as it more or less matches the interior shape of the channel.
• Starting at the top rear of the chamber, slide your disposable scrapper deep into the first channel. Drag it down, then out along the shallow bottom, so any debris exits the open side of the cavity.
• Repeat this scrape-out for each and every channel.
• Because it's surprisingly easy to block the next piece of BALE WIRE to be threaded through, it's important to ensure not even the smallest CARDBOARD scrap, tape, sticker or anything else remains in any channel.
  
  
• Reset the Kick Plate
  
• Swing the BALER door closed, but don't tighten the hinge locking screw. Instead, save time by simply pushing the bottom of the door closed with your foot. Meanwhile, reach for and lower the wire mesh safety grate. If the safety grate won't latch, push harder with your foot to close any gap between the door and BALER frame.
• 
  WARNING: You're about to make an extremely loud noise that could otherwise damage your hearing. So, with one hand COVER YOUR EAR on the side of your head towards the BALER cavity. SPEAK UP, and say, e.g., “LOUD NOISE” to warn anyone else in the area (e.g., the RECEIVER, VENDORS, etc.).
  
  
• Then, push and hold the MAN(ual) DOWN button until the previously raised kicker plate inside the BALER falls back down—CLANG!—to lie once again flat on the bottom of the BALER cavity.
• Remove your foot, swing the door back open and allow the grate to rise.
  
  
• Lay Down a Bottom
  
• The goal here is to ensure no channels become blocked as CARDBOARD is added to create the next BALE. So, make a "Bottom" by laying one or two layers of flat CARDBOARD from your supply over the entire bottom of the BALER cavity. It won't need to be as thick as the top lid. Two layers is better, but even one will do in a pinch. (If you're desperately short on BOARD, you can even omit covering the kicker plate, as no wire passes under it.)
  
• Again swing the BALER door closed, but this time do tighten the hinge locking screw, so the open edge of the door is secured as tightly as possible.
  
  
• Clean Up
  
• TOSS IN CARDBOARD fragments or empty CASES, etc. that didn't fit into the BALER earlier, or which folks may have brought over while you were making the BALE.
• SWEEP UP any debris.
• WASH UP at THE SINK, since BALE WIRE is grimy stuff your hands are probably very dirty, and then,
• You're done!

Make a SPOT

Make a SPOT

v. See CUT IN.

Make It GO

Make It GO

v. To force an ITEM to the SHELF, and not return any of it to the BACK ROOM. Within reason, this instruction means—if you must—JAM or HIDE any slight excess. See also BACK-SET OFFSET ROW, GO, HIDE, JAM, LAY-IN.

NOTE: You never want to do too much violence to the established order. So, if you have a lot of excess, you should being it back, regardless. It's possible your MANAGER or CREW CHIEF wasn't aware that, e.g., someone else had already filled the SPOT.

TIP: 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.

TIP: 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. As often as necessary to make the first three rows sit flush with the front edge of the SHELF, repeat the offset process, 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.

Man

Man

n. Any team member, regardless of gender: “We were down a man last night.”

Manager

Manager

n. 1. A person in charge of one or more DEPARTMENTS. 2. Short for MANAGER-ON-DUTY: (page) “Manager to the Front-End, please.”

Manager-On-Duty

Manager-On-Duty

n. The most senior MANAGER in the STORE at any given time, or whomever has been deputized to serve as acting STORE MANAGER.

Map

Map

n. See STORE DIRECTORY.

Margin

Margin

n. The profit made from selling an ITEM after accounting for all overhead expenses like shipping, labor, and other costs.

NOTE: The higher an ITEM'S Margin, the more profitable it is for the STORE. Couple that with high TURNOVER on the SHELF and you have A Very Good Thing.

My hunch is that if you also consider rate of TURNOVER and other factors, bottled water may be the most profitable thing in the STORE.

Mark Down

Mark Down

v. 1. To reduce the PRICE of an ITEM to encourage a quick sale, e.g., either because it's been slightly damaged, is about to go OUT-OF-DATE, has been DISCONTINUED, or the STORE has some other reason to offer it for sale at a DISCOUNT or clearance price. —n. Any item thus offered. “Is this a mark down?” —adj. Belonging or pertaining to the class of clearance, reduced-priced items.

Mark-Down Rack

Mark-Down Rack

n. See DISCOUNT RACK.

Mark-Down RUNNER

Mark-Down RUNNER

n. A RUNNER in the BACK ROOM upon which the RECEIVER puts reduced-priced DISCONTINUED or DAMAGED ITEMS still suitable for sale at a reduced PRICE, and which is periodically (e.g., at CLOSING) taken up to the FRONT END for the U-SCAN operator to put onto the DISCOUNT RACK.

Marker

Markers

Marker

n. A chisel-point, felt-tip writing implement with black, permanent ink used for writing STOCK NUMBERS and other information and notations on PRODUCT CASES.

NOTE: I happen to prefer the Marks-a-Lot® BRAND because they're not as stinky as some others.

TIP: Band It. Carry two (2) Markers, so you don't get stuck when the first one runs dry. Wrap a rubber band around the barrel of the Marker you're currently using as a signal that it's not brand new. Continue to use the one with the rubber band until it dries out. Meanwhile, keep the new one in a different pocket. That helps avoid suddenly having two dried up markers at the same time. Plus, the rubber band also helps you get your own Marker back if someone wants to borrow it “for just a few minutes.” Obviously, this tip works well for pens, too.

Marks

Marks

n. See CASE NOTATIONS, SHELF NOTATIONS.

Mezz

Mezz

n. See MEZZANINE: “It's under the Mezz.”

Mezzanine

Mezzanine

n. A large interior raised platform accessed by stairs or through chained-off gaps in the railing that creates an interior second floor storage area inside the BACK ROOM. Typically used for storing seasonal DISPLAYS, unused END-CAP and 3-WAY shelving, spare Produce tables, etc.

Milk Crate

Milk Crate, Metal Wire

Milk Crate, Plastic

Milk Crate

n. A sturdy, stackable and reusable wire-frame container with a heavy-duty plastic bottom, or similar, fully plastic container used to ship cartons of milk or other dairy PRODUCTS. Also simply CRATE: “Crate that up.”

NOTE: There is a daily flow of CRATES between Dairy and Grocery DEPARTMENTS because they are so strong, so readily available, and so convenient to use. For instance, they get “borrowed” to hold and protect glass jars coming off DISPLAYS and being transported to the BACK ROOM on RUNNERS. Either at the end of the SHIFT, or whenever a sufficient number of empties pile up in Grocery, they're returned to Dairy. Dairy will periodically load their seemingly endless supply of empty Milk Crates onto PALLETS, WRAP them, and put them on the TRUCK to make room for more.

CAUTION: Now, while it's certainly not OSHA-approved, one way to get a few feet of extra height above what the usual footstool provides—e.g., when you need to quickly get a really good view of what's happening up on the AISLE'S top SHELF, say, to clean up a spill—is to create a “stairway” of three to six crates stacked upside down, each stack one higher than the previous.

WARNING: The wire or plastic bottom crate in contact with the waxed FLOOR is very prone to slide. So, be sure to walk up, do your business, and descend, all very carefully.

The safer, OSHA-approved way is to get one of the sturdy and bulky rolling blue ladders with those nice handrails. A medium-height one is sometimes kept in the bottle-return storeroom adjacent to the CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK, or in the BULK FOODS DEPARTMENT BACK ROOM.

Minus, (-)

Minus, (-)

v. Refers to the (NEGATIVE ORDER WORK)SHEET, and means to record the removal of one or more CASES taken out of BACK-STOCK: “Shouldn't I minus this?”

Mispick

Mispick

n. An unexpected, un-ordered ITEM received in error as part of the regular LOAD because of a mistaken selection made at the WAREHOUSE. Compare DISTRIBUTION. See also C&S TAG, PICK, WAREHOUSE.

NOTE: There are two things to realize when you encounter a Mispick:

1. You've now got (and are stuck with) something you didn't ORDER


2. You didn't get something you did ORDER

Look at the CASE itself to see what you've actually got. Look at the description on the C&S TAG to see what's missing. Of course, the TRUCK'S WAYBILL will match the description on the TAG and not the actual ITEM in your hand.

What to do? Well, if the CASE is already MARKED “Mispick”, you can try to go ahead and WORK it. Otherwise, MARK it, and set it aside for the GROCERY MANAGER'S attention, e.g., on his desk in the BACKROOM. Often such items will end up on the NEW ITEMS RACK, to await being CUT-IN. They are virtually never returned to the WAREHOUSE. When you get a Mispick, you just have to live with it.

Mix

Mix

n. When written on a CASE in MARKER and circled, a STOCK CLERK'S notation meaning more than one ITEM is in the CASE so marked. Usually done as an effort to conserve space on the CART. See also CASE NOTATIONS.

NOTE:

Unless you Mix ITEMS of totally different colors, shapes or sizes, do something to show where one ITEM ends and the next begins. E.g., put dividers of scrap CARDBOARD between them, turn jars of the other flavor on their head, etc.

Don't make us read every LABEL!

M.O.D.

M.O.D.

n. See MANAGER-ON-DUTY.

Mop

Mop

n. 1. A regular, long-handled janitorial device for cleaning up various liquids spilled on a floor. A string Mop. 2. A broad-ended janitorial device for the collection of dust and small dry debris by pushing a long, freely-pivoting handle. A dust Mop. —v. To use a Mop: “(Dry) mop up under the Mezz before you go.”

Move

Move

v. To sell an ITEM, and for it to thus be depleted from its SPOT on the SHELF: “Those spiced crackers just aren't moving.”

NOTE: Generally, the faster things Move, or turn over, the better.

“Mus-ick!”

“Mus-ick!”

n. What you hear over the STORE PA when no other announcement is being made.

NOTE: Canned STORE music is pretty hideous, and gets somewhat monotonous after the first year or so. Depending on your seniority, one of the fringe benefits of working NIGHTS is that (via boom box or iPod) you may get to listen to your own music! The PA is still there, but you can crank up your own volume, just so long as you keep an ear tuned to the CREW CHIEF'S PA call for BREAKS and lunch.

No such luck for DAY CREW, who has to be continually responsive to CUSTOMER traffic in the AISLES.

Some folks have asked if perhaps I misspelled this entry, and really intended to use the term “Muzak.” Nope.