I work in an Aldi Distribution Centre, happy to answer any reasonable questions you might have.
Apologies in advance if I go AWOL but I will get to your question!
[AMA] I'm a Warehouse Operator at an ALDI Distribution Centre
Related Stores
closed Comments
@TiredKitty78: I know they have a quota on how many items they scan per hour.. Also I'm not sure if it's still in place but the registers had the calculator disabled for some really stupid reason. So when giving change (cash) - not that anyone really seems to use it anymore, they had to do the calculations in their head.
As for career progression it's not great. If you know someone or your direct leaders like you, you're more likely to be able to move up the ladder and faster. Me personally.. I have no interest in moving up.
What item has the highest turnover? As in the most get sent out the most frequently, and what item has the fastest turnover? As in, will be here now gone in 2 hours etc. (Excluding fresh produce and bread milk etc)
The chips, beers, cat food, dog food, the rip off wheetbix, the rip off savoy crackers.
As in the two hour window mostly the special buys, the lawn mowers are usually gone within a couple of hours. The TV's used to but you can get better TV's for a very similar price elsewhere which would be much better quality.
Why not all ALDI have self check out system? you waste so much time just waiting to be served.
Yeah I know I hate shopping at Aldi. But they are (slowly) rolling them out now.
I hate self checkout it's slower
Can't wait for self checkout. For big shops, I agree I enjoy putting everything on the conveyer belt and having them scan it. If I'm popping across from work to grab a few things at lunch, self checkout would be great so I don't have to line up behind 3 people's weekly shops because Aldi only has one checkout open, or they open a second one and call for a staff who takes AGES to come to it, by this time the first one has cleared anyway.
Self checkout= self interest.
Stay true to bare bones,Aldi.
F#@k self serve,it's just another complicationI like aldi cos they don't make you work for your own groceries. Its a hard no from me.
"they don't make you work for your own groceries"
Have they started bagging everything for you now?
.
Why are Aldi staff so odd?
What do you find odd about them?
Fast checkout experience, don't get in my way, seem happy?
Like they are hokey, kind of camp, that kind of thing. It's that or they seem like zombies, shuffling around the store, wordlessly scanning at lightening speed. Woolworth's and Coles seem to hire regular people.
I've not experienced this at any local stores to me.. Don't get me wrong, we have our fair share of weirdos at the DC but in general the people are quite normal.
Not OP, and it took me a minute, but i think i know what you're getting at now. I think you mean that the people at woolworths seem like ya know, the average person.
I think it's size. Coleworth have giant stores, generally maybe 3-5 time bigger. This means more people, more aisles, more leeway to be a bit more chill about the jobs. Aldi, small stores with cameras everywhere and everyone can likely hear you gossip, so you probably really need to be working.@TiredKitty78: You are correct about the smaller store and cameras. The DC is full of cameras, initially when they installed them they told us "we only want them for when accidents happen so we can view the footage"
But a few years on they actively monitor us. So there is always a type of paranoia that you are being watched.
What's a Distribution Center?
A distribution center is a product storage and shipping building that stores goods a company produces.
Distribution centers are a key part of the distribution chain for products, order fulfilment, and storing produced goods prior to their shipment to wholesale, retail or customers.
Distribution centers also make large scale shipping of products possible to retail and individuals. Well placed distribution centers can simplify and reduce the cost of getting a product to its destination, bulk shipping to the heart of a market, especially when production is not in an advantageous central location. Distribution centers also enable international commerce with greater competition by eliminating taxes, duty, tariffs or VAT charges a customer would have to pay ordering internationally.
Distribution centers often use various equipment in the handling of inventory such as: forklifts, pallet jacks and automated storage and retrieval systems, shipping containers, boxes, cartons and pallets. Distribution centers can be a separate building and staff or may be a part of a manufacturing center and share staff, space, equipment and inventory. They are generally comprised of a receiving dock, a storage area and a shipping area. Depending on the goods a distribution center stores, they may be managed in different ways. Refrigeration is common for perishables in distribution centers, others may be heated.
Distribution centers are a key part of the distribution chain for products, order fulfilment, and storing produced goods prior to their shipment to wholesale, retail or customers.
So it goes DC > Wholesale > Retail?
In my case just DC > Retail
@deme: We have 2 DC's in Victoria, Dandenong South and Derrimut but they plan to merge both into one larger complex by 2030.. Mind you that was supposed to be 2025, then 2027 and now 2030 so who knows.
I heard that Woolworths and Coles were both making automated distribution centres. How long do you think it will be before Aldi has the same?
They are currently putting one together in NSW and using it like guineapig.
They announced to us a few years ago that they will be merging our two Victorian DC's into one semi automated 'super dc'
This was supposed to happen in 2025, then they moved it to 2027 and now they're saying 2030.
They've bought the land which is in Truganina but this whole plan is so far behind. I'm unsure of what the actual hold up is.
The local automated Woolworths DC is still having major issues years after it opened so they've actually had to keep their older DC open at the same time to help mitigate the problems at the new one.
What's your staff discount?
edit: Can you use it on everything?No staff discount at all. They tell us "it's cheap enough already"
When Covid vaccinations came in but were not yet mandatory they were giving us a 50 dollar voucher for each shot we got. Oh and a bag of 'goodies' they called it.. Some cheap lollies, biscuits etc all close to use by date.
For one of the lockdowns they gave us three 50 dollar vouchers for working through covid, but they stopped that after Dan kept locking us down willy nilly.
They opened like a small shop at the DC which had all the hard to get stuff like toilet paper and pasta but they charged full price and had strict limits on how much you could buy.
There are no freebies at Aldi.
Oh the other thing they used to do for us was have a staff Christmas party were you got free wine and beer, pretty much all you could drink… But things always got out of hand, there was never a Christmas party where staff didn't get fired for poor behavior.
there was never a Christmas party where staff didn't get fired for poor behavior.
What? Was it in the store? In the break room? Is the party mandatory? Like 'come to the christmas party, have a good time, but not too good, or we'll fire you for bad behaviour'.
They would hire out a decent venue and the whole warehouse would be invited. You did not have to attend.
As for poor behavior a little sexual harassment here, some racial slurs there. One guy threw a glass of wine at a section leader and after his dismissal attempted to sue the company for lost wages.
"there was never a Christmas party where staff didn't get fired for poor behavioUr"
Aldi has become Strayan.
WelcomeVery much so. There was an instance where staff where launching themselves as 'cannon balls' into tables in an attempt to break them.
Speaking of Covid, why was there such a shortage of toilet paper during Covid - is there a large stockpile somewhere now ?
People kept mass purchasing it, I'm not sure why. We had this really cheap 2 ply sent over from Germany but when it arrived the rush for TP had already stopped and they ended up selling it at a loss.
I have to start early tomorrow. I'll get back to anymore questions tomorrow afternoon. Have a good night people.
What happens to the previous week's special buys items? I notice that some things seem to be left out until they're sold, but other things disappear as soon as the next lot of special buys arrive.
Those items get sent back to us and sent to another store that they think will sell them. If it's a failure special buy it will go back to the supplier.
What is a warehouse operator? What do you actually do?
Warehouse Operator is like the title of 90 percent of the staff there. There are many different areas and one operators job will be completely different to another. It's more a payroll thing I believe.
Selection / Ambient - Warehouse Operators use a headset to voice pick orders for stores. They drive an electric stock mover up and down lanes and pick stock onto pallets in accordance to the order they've picked up. The stock is most things that don't need to be refrigerated. Probably the biggest area in the warehouse.
Goods In. - Warehouse Operators doing a replenishment role will drive a high reach forklift and replenish stock for the order pickers once the current pallet has run out. They also handle incoming goods all day from the trucks and companies that deliver it.
Produce - Warehouse Operators pick orders of 'fresh produce' for stores also from a screen on their stock mover. This is fruit, vegetables, eggs etc.
Transport - self explanitory
Chiller / Freezer - Warehouse Operators again pick store orders much like Selection / Ambient but in the freezing cold. I hate it in there personally.
Specials - This is where the special buys come in, probably the most physically taxing department. They stack the special buys onto pallets for each store for the new catalogues.
Quality Control - This is a newish department so I'm not completely sure on how it works but these are the people in charge of making sure the products are fit for purpose.. It looks like a slack kind of job tbh.
Damaged Specials - Speaks for itself this is where all the returned special buys end up. They pack them up and send them off never to be seen again.
Maintenance - These Operators maintain stock pickers, fix broken things around the DC, sometimes they do the gardening.
Truck Maintenance - Mechanics
Why is the fruit and veg such poor quality!?
I love shopping at Aldi but wife won’t allow it due to poor fruit and veg. I can’t argue with her so back to Coles we go (reluctantly)
What state are you in? See my reply above about the new department 'Quality Control'
From what I've seen the fresh produce is pretty good in our DC. I'm unsure about others. But I have heard Woolworths / Coles is still a lot better. It would most likely be one of their cost cutting measures by selling B grade fruit and veg.
im in Victoria, north/western subs
I agree, it's awful. I shop at the local fruit/veg shop next to Aldi and the stuff lasts so much longer for cheaper prices too.
I still go to Aldi for the panty/staples/long-life things. Can't you go to Aldi one day and stock up on all the stuff there, and go to Coles another day for the fruit, etc?
"I still go to Aldi for the panty/staples/long-life things
You minx
Woolworths and Coles knock back a lot of Fruit and Veg that are not perfect (i.e they want the unnatural looking fruit and veg because we are all used to them). A mate of mine used to supply to Coles and he had a lot of wastage (they were still good, but didn't look good).
I don't care about the shape/look good, it's more how fresh it is.
Aldi's fruit and veg looks tired and sad, Coles/Woolies not all that much better. The local fruit/veg place gets it fresh from the market and it shows. Things look crisp and fresh and last ages in the fridge.
Fruit/veg from Aldi is mouldy in 3 days in my experience.
I can see that now after speaking with some of the 'fresh' produce workers today. A truck arrives from who knows where, there is little storage space to keep it.. By all reports it can sit in the DC for a few days before it's sent out.
do you pantry moths in your warehouse? Its seems a lot of packaged goods from Aldi have come with them for free
I mean if you wanted free moths that would be good. But that sounds really bad! What state are you in?
Our DC is moth free but recently we have had a heap of stray cats find homes within the Warehouse, we caught 4 and some really good, kind hearted staff adopted them. One of them was pregnant so the guy who took that one got more than he bargained for.
What are the chances of us finding a free cat in our packages of kibble?
Sorry the staff took them all already.
Aww, let the kitties hang around.
No for real, they'll kill the rats.That was actually my advice to them because we 'had' rats before the cats arrived.
Aldi were selling Breeders choice/celect cat litter 20L as a special buy recently.
Will this special buy return? If not why isn't it a normal product as I find it better than the normal litter the stores stock.
I'm not part of the purchasing team, they don't talk to us plebs in the warehouse.
Let's just hope they see how well it sold and get it back in as a normal product.
Hi in the frozen section there use to be Mediterranean grilled vegetables but hasn't been available in regional Victoria for a while.
Do you know if its coming back?
It's a seasonal item unfortunately.
Thank you
Why milk isn't as good as in Wollies/Coles?
In my experience it is.. Placebo?
I had to buy a brand that was not our usual one the other day (Aldi sells neither) It wasn't placebo to say it looked much 'whiter' and yet when added to tea,it made it look more watery.And it tasted way less creamy. TLDR: Other brand milk looked whiter, operated less white in practise, tasted meh. Definitely not placebo.I'll try some Aldi milk to see what it's like.
BTW I do appreciate Aldi, and for me the way it works (in store ) now is OK by me.They just need to tweak the vege section. That would pay dividends methinks.Yeah fruit and veg seems to be the main gripe with Aldi.. I'll attempt to raise this with management but without a doubt they will just nod in agreeance with me without actually hearing me.
What happened to the Caramel Popcorn? Will they ever bring it back?
Haven't seen it for a long time. Again Purchasing team won't speak to us warehouse plebs.
Do the Germans ever visit to inspect? If so, does it feel like the Simpson's episode when they bought the power plant?
Actually yes… Yes they do. They are referred to as 'the family'
So like "we need to get this place looking good as the 'family' are coming in for a walk through.
Like the purchasing team they have no interest in the warehouse plebs, they spend most of their time in the offices speaking with the logistics managers about how to cut costs etc.
What is the average age of the people working at Aldi?
At a guess 30. They try not to hire the younger crew as they need weekend availability. They tend to steer clear of anyone over 50 ish due to the physical nature of the job. They don't want injuries etc.
However after covid with all the staffing shortages they would lit take anyone.. It used to be a case of try new people out and keep the ones they liked.. That's changed to 'we will keep anyone who will stay'
Will Aldi ever introduce the fresh bakery section & bread cutters to NSW similar to the European stores?
Not OP but I think they experimented with this in some stores here, and it wasn't successful. I remember shopping at a store a few times where they had a small bakery prep section, but the selection of baked goods was minimal. And it disappeared altogether not too long after.
This is correct
Amazing how whenever ppl discover a golden egg they gotta break it.
Stick to what you do well Aldi, and improve the quality of veges, and see how it flies.
How long does unsold special sit before being discounted? Went to my local ALDI store some time ago, they had specials there from months prior still at full price.
They will send it to another store and try and sell it there before marking it as a clearance item. I'd say a very long time.
Why does Aldi seem to have a high proportion of egg cartons with breakages? At what point in the distribution cycle would this happen?
Most likely the pickers, when picking orders for a store and putting something heavy on top of it or too many lighter items.. The job is mundane and there is a lot of 'she'll be right'
Just letting you know that my dog absolutely hates the Julius brand. Everytime I serve it to him. He just gives me a wtf stare every time.
Bloody Julius
Also when I drink orange soda from Aldi, why is my pee so orange every time?
Yeah Julius is an a$$hole, my dog feels the same way about it and she's not a fussy eater.
Interesting about the pee.. Like you've had a few Berocca or something?
When will the tempura chicken breast nuggets be back in stock?
Those were nearly identical / as tasty as the Macca's one.
I'll have to keep an eye out for them myself because the Macca's nuggets are awesome.
Again purchasing team won't answer to us plebs.
Is there any hope of the Vodka Pasta sauce coming back?
There is hope but how much hope? I'm unsure of.
Can you please tell me if aldi will ever restock the plant based nuggets?
I need them!
I'm sorry I can't.. Purchasing team are in these offices that the plebs don't have access to.
I'm a big Aldi fan, but some product seem to lack a bit of consistency in quality. One that comes to mind are the Goliath garbage bags. Most of the time they are fine, but maybe 1 in 5 I get a batch that seem to constantly split, then the next few rolls will be fine. Can you comment on why that might be?
That's interesting. Yeah we seem to ship out a lot of those.. It almost feels like a roulette with some of the stock there.. I'm guessing it's just the cheaper sources aren't as reliable as more reputable brands.
What's been the most epic mishap you've seen - Like a turning loader knocking over a tower of eggs or anything like that?
I'm glad you asked.
One of the high reach operators was attempting to put a pallet of jam on the top storing rack, this is roughly 12 meters high.. He stuffed up and dropped it from that height.. Landed about 4 meters from me and a few other staff. Glass and jam everywhere, he didn't apologize more looked at us like "what are you doing there" He's a jerk.
I once saw a guy who was new try and drive under / through the storage racking and his machine broke some of the structure.
Someone dropped a whole pallet of wet flour into our general waste crusher and jammed it good.. When we opened it there was like a thick liquid brew ready to be kneaded into bread.
Recently a high reach driver dropped a pallet of long life milk from about 10 meters up.. Man what a mess.
Not that big but an order picker took a corner too sharp and 15 - 20 boxes of red wine fell off his pallets and smashed, it was like a sea of red wine (and glass)
Epic! When can we see the security footage of all this?
I'd love access to the cameras but alas I don't have it.. I'm actually more interested in watching people trip over on their way up and down the stairs from the tea room back to the warehouse and vice versa… I know I've featured on there a few times.
….after you get a job there, and view it at the Christmas Party /table ten pin tournament
Do you guys still stock the chocolate coated acai berries? Or any coated berries?
I haven't been able to find any in store for a while…
I don't think so, I rarely shop there but I'll keep a look out and let you know.
How does the milk generally have a longer expiry date than at Colesworth? i can usually get one with 10-12 days from aldi, but struggle to find one with more than 5 at coles even after trawling right to the back of the shelf
That's odd, I usually buy my milk from Woolworths have at least a week usually more on it.
We do send out stock to each store daily, I'm not sure perhaps your other local supermarkets don't have that.
People trawling to the back of the shelf is why we can't have nice things
Since you don't get staff discounts.
Aldi seems to make the most profit out of all the supermarkets based on tax payments.
Though, they say they are cheap and/or cheapest but compared to Woolies brand and Coles branded items, they are practically the same price. For example cream is 4.50 in all supermarkets, one brand won't go down in price, assuming they are just price matching each other.
Are store branded products products reasonable in price or it's price gouging?
@SpainKing: That sounds about right. The order picking quota in the DC is 200 per hour. This sounds easy enough, but it's like playing tetris.. A lot of odd shaped boxes and the lanes are not really laid out to suit the order picker. You'll have heavy items then light items (which could be crushed) you have to kind of anticipate whats ahead of you.