The Absymal Ergonomics of Self Checkout (stores, work, employee, register)

[galaxyhi]

Originally Posted by GreggT

If Self Checkouts are so great, how come the lines at the cashiers seem to get longer and longer while the self checkout machine stay idle?
Oh and by the way, many high school students are extremely intelligent, when store hire them, they normally get the cream of the crop!

WHERE on Earth did you get the idea that the high schoolers are the "cream of the crop" as grocery store cashiers?

My other half (OH) is a front end supervisor in a grocery store.
I can't begin to tell you the complaints my OH has about the "juniors" ( those 18 and under)!

New York (our state), California and now I guess New Jersey as well all have strict high school requirements ( NY and CA have the Regents college preparatory program that all high school students must graduate from.), Yet if they can't relate it to video game or cell phone app, they aren't so interested in learning and getting it right.

They stand and are bored ( definitely look it), and according to my OH a fire needs to be lit under their A$$€$ to get them to do something.
They lack manners and proper social Grace's, and are lazy. Apperently the words or verbs "clean" and "work" are not in their vocabulary.

God forbid they get asked to actually DO something.

Even though cells are not allowed during working hours, guess who is still always on them? Sneaking chats and messages to their friends, family, whomever.

They have no respect for elders, they have a 'tude (attitude) regardless of what is going on.

They cannot do simple basic arithmetic without using their cell phones.

They call in sick, pull no-shows or don't show up...just because there's a party at Sam or Sally's house they'd much rather go to than Actually meet their work schedule obligations.

Many, during covid-19 call off continuously or gave a blanket excuse "ah, duh, my mommy and daddy said I can't come to work until the covid-19 scare is over".

They act as though they've never been taught the English language, and even though each generation has their own vernacular ( a word they wouldn't even understand), theirs is completely unintelligible!

"Cream if the crop" for high schoolers? My OH "my butt!!"

College kids are even worse, especially when it comes to calling off to go to a party or because they are hung over from the party last night!

And the first few beautiful days of spring after the loooong NE winters? Don't expect either to show up! They won't even call with a lie about why they can't come in, they just won't show up!

Of course my OH (and i) work for a living and have a mortgage to pay, but for them mommy and daddy pay the bills, so they don't really WANT to work, they are just looking for "pocket money".

But, there are a few very good, reliable and intelligent juniors, but they are the minority and few and far between. Unfortunately, because of their good work ethic, they often leave to go other jobs.

[sedimenjerry]

I liked my old grocery store except for one thing.
They only had 4 or 5 normal checkout lanes and 12 total self checkout kiosks.
Usually they only had 2 cashiers actually working at a time. They were constantly trying to encourage people to use the self checkout even with full carts. I hated it when I had more than about 15 items. It took longer and you only had 3 bag spots to use at a time.

[Therblig]

Originally Posted by sedimenjerry

I hated it when I had more than about 15 items. It took longer and you only had 3 bag spots to use at a time.

Most have only one, sometimes two. They are/were clearly designed to replace the 'express' checkouts, which, come to think of it, I haven't seen one of in a couple of years. Pushing people to check out with much bigger loads is showing the limitations of their craptastic design.

Yes, some stores are improving and places like HD simply have too many products you can't lift and pass by a fixed scanner. A partial solution at best for grocery stores.

The walk-with self-scanners are almost certainly a dead end for reasons too complicated to go into. My grocery has them; even after a year of insistent urging and discounts and coupons and I'll-helps, I rarely see anyone using them. Wrightly or rongly, it magnifies the sense of "doing their job for them."

If we accept the assumption that SCO is here to stay and human checkout is going to decline to special purchases only (like going to a customer service counter), the stores need to stop admiring the shiny trade-show installations their vendors pushed on them to replace quick/express/limited/savvy checkout and rebuild them to allow normal people to easily check out a basket of goods without being rushed or hectored or yelled at for failing to figure out a crappy workstation without something as simple as a place to put down an item that's been scanned.

[Therblig]

Originally Posted by WRM20

The stores I frequent that have self checkout have different types, depending on whether you have a few items or a lot of items. Different size storage areas for each. And, they are spaced to allow you to pull the nose of the cart up next to the checkout, and there's about 10 feet between the checkouts on either side.

Are you writing from 2025? I've never seen anything of the kind in a wide variety of stores.

Where are you seeing this?

[athena53]

Maybe the issue is that the original SCOs were designed only for small, simple orders. Typically when tasks are mechanized (or moved offshore) the excuse is "this will free up our employees to deal with more complex orders/problems"...until the humans, or the locals, are completely gone from the picture.

So... they sort of work if you have a few small items but now you have to try and figure out how to juggle a large order. Fortunately I haven't been in that position yet- I do all my grocery shopping at Costco and other chains that don't have SCO. At HD or Lowes if I have a complex order I can go to a regular cashier.

The scanning wands seem to be an improvement. I'm not sure how to solve the other problems with large orders- the bagging area is set up with a scale so that a check can be made of the weight of the item being bagged vs. the weight (stored in the computer) of the item scanned so people don't scan a can of tuna and them put a steak into the bag. A "Remove Bag" button so you could put the full bag in your cart and start with another one would help.

[Therblig]

Originally Posted by athena53

Maybe the issue is that the original SCOs were designed only for small, simple orders.

That's over half the problem, yes.

That the systems and interfaces are (1) not ready for prime time and (2) ineptly configured in some very large number of installations is the other half.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Therblig

Are you writing from 2025? I've never seen anything of the kind in a wide variety of stores.

Where are you seeing this?

At the Kroger around the corner from my house in Houston.

[lieqiang]

Originally Posted by WRM20

At the Kroger around the corner from my house in Houston.

Same here, and this was back pre-2015. Our Kroger had a station with four smaller self-checkouts for express type dealies, and a different station with two full length bigger ones that had space to back enough for maybe half a cart full of stuff.

Don't get me started on the glory of Kroger brand corned beef hash. Sure, it's contents looked almost exactly like the cans of Alpo Blue Ribbon we used to feed our dogs, but it was far more flavorful than the usual Libbys/Hormel types.

[Therblig]

Originally Posted by WRM20

At the Kroger around the corner from my house in Houston.

Originally Posted by lieqiang

Same here, and this was back pre-2015.

Kroger had a station with four smaller self-checkouts for express type dealies, and a different station with two full length bigger ones that had space to back enough for maybe half a cart full of stuff.

Fascinating. I've seen none and heard reports of none that have 'evolved' like this. Interesting news.

[corydon]

2030.
Every tenth customer will be summoned to clean the toilets.
Young and able bodied man and woman will be escorted to the unloading dock, the self driving truck has no driver....
Homeless people at the traffic light will be fetched in the evening, they must clean the store and fill up everything.
Produce department is on the roof, where it grows fresh. You pick.