Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
↑
68
↓
A rant about CBS printers (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by a-viewer
My store recently got a CBS printer. The store-wide consensus is we do not like it. It would work if we often had someone planted on cold bev, but the way my store (a small cafe) runs, we almost never have someone there.
As an SSV, I was like, we'll just turn it off, no big deal, it's up to my baristas and what they want because I want them to be as happy and comfortable as possible. My manager comes in, and tries to turn it back on. I tell her, no one likes it. She tells me we HAVE TO USE IT.
Um...excuse me?? When we only have one main bar, it slows them down, they miss cold bev drinks, things get out of order. It's just so much harder to manage drinks printing at two completely different locations. I am not FORCING my baristas to do something that makes their lives harder and that they have explicitly said they DO NOT LIKE.
My manager went as far as WRITING IN THE BOOK that we HAVE to leave the CBS printer on. Like, are you serious?? Let the people working choose what is best and most efficient for them. These micromanaging corporate bots are such bullshit.
UPDATE: I was on the floor with my SM today and she told me we need it on. I said, "I need a good reason." And she deadass just said, "Well it's a tool we were provided with." Girl, that is NOT A REASON.
Also, she full on used the label marker and put a label on the CBS printer saying "This printer must be ON during PEAK."
Literally why. I care about my baristas and making their lives easier in an already very hard job. Let them do the small things that will make it better for them.
As an SSV, I was like, we'll just turn it off, no big deal, it's up to my baristas and what they want because I want them to be as happy and comfortable as possible. My manager comes in, and tries to turn it back on. I tell her, no one likes it. She tells me we HAVE TO USE IT.
Um...excuse me?? When we only have one main bar, it slows them down, they miss cold bev drinks, things get out of order. It's just so much harder to manage drinks printing at two completely different locations. I am not FORCING my baristas to do something that makes their lives harder and that they have explicitly said they DO NOT LIKE.
My manager went as far as WRITING IN THE BOOK that we HAVE to leave the CBS printer on. Like, are you serious?? Let the people working choose what is best and most efficient for them. These micromanaging corporate bots are such bullshit.
UPDATE: I was on the floor with my SM today and she told me we need it on. I said, "I need a good reason." And she deadass just said, "Well it's a tool we were provided with." Girl, that is NOT A REASON.
Also, she full on used the label marker and put a label on the CBS printer saying "This printer must be ON during PEAK."
Literally why. I care about my baristas and making their lives easier in an already very hard job. Let them do the small things that will make it better for them.
zedazeni 52 points 10m ago
More than likely I’m going to guess that the DM is pushing this. My cafe-only store also has a CBS printer. We used it for about three hours before we all realized it was completely useless. Neither my former or current SM have ever made us use it.
a-viewer [OP] 23 points 10m ago
Lucky! Yeah I borrowed at a busy drive through and it was excellent! I was the planted cold bev and it was such a great system! At a little cafe though... completely useless
zedazeni 18 points 10m ago
That’s the issue with Sbux, I don’t think they understand the concept that each store has different needs. Two DTO stores could have very different business needs, even if they’re both DTO….
Dietdoctorgender 6 points 10m ago
I’m in a little cafe store too, and we’ve never used ours. They put it in a corner that is completely inaccessible, and we only have cups in the rolling thing. Our bar area is so small that we only have one ice bin.
stillwantthewhip 31 points 10m ago
This isn’t the way the CBS printer is supposed to be used. The labels should be routed to different printers depending on your business, product mix, and how many partners are in the play. At no point should labels be printing out of more printers than there are partners on bar.
The way it’s intended to be used is when you have a higher % of cold beverages. As an example, during peak with 2 partners on bar with a product mix that includes a lot of cold beverages, you would have 1 partner on hot bar and 1 partner on cold bar. This reduces motion and keeps drinks coming out at a consistent pace vs two partners constantly clashing and working over each other at cold bar.
The playbuilder can help you identify when the CBS labeler should be used.
The way it’s intended to be used is when you have a higher % of cold beverages. As an example, during peak with 2 partners on bar with a product mix that includes a lot of cold beverages, you would have 1 partner on hot bar and 1 partner on cold bar. This reduces motion and keeps drinks coming out at a consistent pace vs two partners constantly clashing and working over each other at cold bar.
The playbuilder can help you identify when the CBS labeler should be used.
Normal_Human_4567 20 points 10m ago
Listen, I'm not saying you should do this. But it would be unfortunate if the printer was accidentally maliciously destroyed
a-viewer [OP] 17 points 10m ago
🤣🤣🤣
Me on my last day: *takes a baseball bat to the CBS printer* You're welcome
Me on my last day: *takes a baseball bat to the CBS printer* You're welcome
Assiqtaq 3 points 10m ago
Just jam it. I mean, for now, and completely on accident of course.
demigirlhailee 1 points 10m ago
a little vanilla syrup in the works is less noticeable
Responsible_Snow7109 12 points 10m ago
Oh no, it looks like the cbs printer just somehow turned on its back and got the battery acid that is the pineapple refresher "spilled" in it by accident
Bluebilledduck 9 points 10m ago
Our SM and DM have told us the same thing. We will have one bar and THREE sticker printers. Its hell.
demigirlhailee 3 points 10m ago
that's just fucking stupid. my sm has never given a single shit about how the labels are routed. all the baristas know how to switch between presets so if we're in the back and they need to switch they can. I really cannot fathom why we would be forced to keep it on when it's not needed
presidente5507 2 points 10m ago
how do you switch the presets? Through the POS?
demigirlhailee 2 points 10m ago
yeah, functions -> label routing -> peak/off peak/peak revised/off peak revised
works even from barista login
works even from barista login
lilly260_ 7 points 10m ago
I work in a high-volume drive thru store, and we just got one and I hate it too. I wish you could choose which drink types come out of it, because our store is not set up for us to be running to the cold bar tap, running to get iced coffees, and back to make fraps and refreshers. It’s chaos and it all seems to bottleneck when we have that printer on even with a planted cold bar. It’s hard to sequence there as is and you just feel like you’re drowning.
a-viewer [OP] 6 points 10m ago
Idk if you've looked in the menu where you can toggle it on and off, but there is a way to choose which drinks route to which printer. Given, it is a bit limited and I've had some issues getting it to actually change and do what I want because, ya know, sbux and it's ever so functional technology 🥴
lilly260_ 2 points 10m ago
omg I asked if we could do that and someone said it wasn’t possible😭
a-viewer [OP] 2 points 10m ago
If you go to the menu where you switch it between peak and off peak, there's a little bubble to the right that says like "edit routing" or something like that. Click on that and it brings you to a list of some different drink types and you can select which printer it goes to. Sorry for the poor description, but I hope this is helpful!
geekgurl81 6 points 10m ago
We have one but only use it when we have one person dedicated to cold bar, and only if it’s so busy that works best. My SM leaves it up to the shift and when she is there she is happy to let us configure them however works best based on the flow at the time. Most of us know how to change the settings.
a-viewer [OP] 5 points 10m ago
I'm glad your SM lets the person in charge of the floor decide. It really should be up to them and, very importantly, the person actually on main bar!
geekgurl81 1 points 10m ago
I’m seeing more and more how I got a pretty good store overall. Everyone deserves it!
a-viewer [OP] 1 points 10m ago
I used to have the best store! Then my amazing manager left and this complete asshole took over. I transferred to get away from him lol but also ended up in a pretty lackluster place anyway. A good store is hard to find. Cherish it, my lucky friend
trentablondelatte 6 points 10m ago
yeah we don’t use ours, are manager talked to our DM and she said since we’re slow enough to turn it off
celloqueer 4 points 10m ago
That’s wack. We have a cold bar printer but we don’t keep it on all the time. In the label routing system you can set up a “peak” and “off peak” option and for us basically “peak” is using the cbs printer and “off peak” is not using it. When running a hot bar/cold bar situation we use “peak” to turn the CBS printer on, and when running solo bar or B1/B2 we use “off peak” to turn it off. What’s gonna be best depends on what people are ordering—hot bar/cold bar situation is super useful when one order channel is way higher volume than the others so that it evens out the workload and reduces movement. If drive bar and cafe/mobile are about the same
volume I find that a hot bar/cold bar play can be unnecessarily confusing bc of multiple different handoff locations, so B1/B2 can be better for that. It depends on what people are ordering and which channel they’re ordering it with.
Edit: I’m seeing you’re a cafe only store and it truly makes no sense to use a CBS printer if you only get to put one person on bar
volume I find that a hot bar/cold bar play can be unnecessarily confusing bc of multiple different handoff locations, so B1/B2 can be better for that. It depends on what people are ordering and which channel they’re ordering it with.
Edit: I’m seeing you’re a cafe only store and it truly makes no sense to use a CBS printer if you only get to put one person on bar
[deleted] 3 points 10m ago
[deleted]
uwumoment 2 points 10m ago
the waters and ice cups, pup cups too all print on cbs and it’s so annoying. i like the don’t make button but id rather some things just not print out. like when a customer orders water at the handoff, i make it and then ring it in after bc im not losing that labor.
Apprehensive_Flow219 2 points 10m ago
we got one too and just made it the mobile printer 🙈
hotlinee 2 points 10m ago
We have a CBS but it’s only on during peak and at least one person is ALWAYS planted there. It makes no sense to have it on if no one is there
BatWeary 2 points 10m ago
I hated having a CBS printer. More often than not I’d completely forget its existence and suddenly I had 10+ drinks to make. It’s very much one of those “out of sight, out of mind” things for me.
OakTreeTrash 1 points 10m ago
Our bar is set up with one being cafe and one being mobiles. And they are next to each other essentially so we are always able to see both on bar. Then we can work on drinks better and orders aren’t split up. So we get all of 1 cafe orders drinks done, then move over to mobiles if needed and repeat.
Decent-Marionberry63 2 points 10m ago
I could see it only being used during peak, and only when there is a planted cold bar barista. Otherwise the SSV should hold the power to turn it on and off. That’s dumb. I’m sorry you’re dealing with that :/
vandilor 1 points 10m ago
we are a super busy store and have had the CBS printer for 6 months or so. we only turn it on when things get rough and have people for cold bar. your sm needs to chill
[deleted] 1 points 10m ago
[removed]
IzzyIllustrations 1 points 10m ago
I will never have peak on when I'm alone on bar. When it starts to hit a peak and I'm getting an influx of one or the other, I'll ask my shift to turn it on peak and get someone else on bar to do cold or hot.
That's how it should work. It's called peak and off peak for a reason.
That's how it should work. It's called peak and off peak for a reason.
no0dles130 1 points 10m ago
You guys can check your product mix on the play builder tool to see the percentage of customers ordering cold beverage. Sometimes the play calls for the main bar partner to just be on cold bar and register partner makes espresso beverages.
verdeuce 1 points 10m ago
SM here, I had no idea this was the expectation. We only have it routed to print during peak if someone is planted there. (Not turning it on or off, just changing the routing in the dashboard)
chapelcosplay 1 points 10m ago
We ONLY use ours during peak and if we have someone planted on cold bar. I’m sorry OP that your sm is having it on all the time 😞
Wonderful-Put-5972 1 points 10m ago
You can adjust it for when you do have a CB planted person.
im_feeling_cold 0 points 10m ago
okay so the CB printer is actually an extremely useful tool to have for those cold bar/generally busy rushes you can get. it’s just not being used properly at your store. you are NOT supposed to have it on at all times. that will just create the exact problems you’re experiencing. when you are not running bar 3 (cold bar or bar support), keep it off. when running a play with a planted third bar, turn it on. this eliminates the need for that third bar to constantly walk back and forth and pull hot bar stickers to find the next cold drink, increasing overall bar efficiency and getting both cold and hot drinks out in a more consistent manner.
the next bottleneck you need to think about is when cold bar drinks are ordered in drive thru. what might happen is the planted cold bar will be swamped with mobile orders and not be aware of the upcoming drive thru drink that is next at the window. a suggested fix would be for the planted cold bar partner to wear a headset and make sure DTO/DTR is communicating with the planted cold bar about what drive thru cold drinks are needed next.
the NEXT thing to worry about is what if all the drinks are cold, making the one planted cold bar have to make ALL of the drinks? then your two other planted bars either should help on cold bar, or it might be time to turn off the cold bar printer and change the play to only two planted bar partners.
good luck with the implementation! everything will take getting used to but i genuinely feel that a cold bar printer is extremely useful for a high volume store.
the next bottleneck you need to think about is when cold bar drinks are ordered in drive thru. what might happen is the planted cold bar will be swamped with mobile orders and not be aware of the upcoming drive thru drink that is next at the window. a suggested fix would be for the planted cold bar partner to wear a headset and make sure DTO/DTR is communicating with the planted cold bar about what drive thru cold drinks are needed next.
the NEXT thing to worry about is what if all the drinks are cold, making the one planted cold bar have to make ALL of the drinks? then your two other planted bars either should help on cold bar, or it might be time to turn off the cold bar printer and change the play to only two planted bar partners.
good luck with the implementation! everything will take getting used to but i genuinely feel that a cold bar printer is extremely useful for a high volume store.
a-viewer [OP] 1 points 10m ago
I agree it works great for a drive through. But as I said, I am at a small cafe that often only has one person on bar and it slows things down, causes them to miss drinks, and just generally makes their life harder. Everyone has personally told me they don't like it on when they're on bar
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.