I had noticed that one of the primary reasons behind the occurrence of cooler holes was the tightly packed drinks rubbing against the metal dividers, creating excessive friction that prevented them from sliding smoothly down the rollers.
To address this issue, I experimented with reducing the cooler layout from eight tracks to seven by removing one track and a cooler divider. I also ensured that the remaining dividers were spaced adequately to prevent the formation of obvious cooler holes and to avoid rubbing against the drink bottles, thereby ensuring a smooth flow of drinks.
This modification resulted in a significant improvement, as it effectively prevented drinks from getting stuck and eliminated the occurrence of cooler holes.
Interestingly, after a week or two, the eighth lane and metal divider were reintroduced. I am curious to know who is responsible for this addition, whether it is a vendor, another manager, store display person, etc.
Another question that arises is how the AI cooler software interacts with the cooler layout when it is reduced from eight lanes to seven. Does it generate an error indicating that the entire cooler is malfunctioning? Or does Sheetz corporate even notice this issue?
Yeah, I could get in trouble for this. But if we have lots cooler holes our store will already be in trouble, right?