CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS
Every miss comes back as a chargeback.
Thin margins at high volume, with retailers who fine you for every wrong label or late ASN. Promotions swamp the dock while case picks outrun replenishment. The cost of getting it wrong arrives weeks later as a deduction.
We fix the floor process behind the fines, then stay to make it hold through your next promotion.
Where chargebacks really start
Deductions you can't trace back
Retailer chargebacks show up on remittances with a code and a dollar amount. Nobody on the floor can tie them to a shipment, let alone the mistake that caused them.
Pick faces empty at the worst time
Replenishment runs on a schedule, not on demand. During a promotion the fast movers go empty mid-wave and pickers wait.
Short-dated product shipping out
Lots and dates are in the system, but the floor picks whatever is closest. Older product ages in the back and newer product ships first.
Labels and ASNs that don't match the truck
The pallet label says one thing, the ASN says another, and the retailer's receiving dock notices before you do.
WHY IT BREAKS HERE
Volume swings faster than the process adjusts.
CPG warehouses run near capacity for most of the year and over it during promotions. Shortcuts that work on a normal day turn into errors at twice the volume. Every retailer also has its own rulebook for labels and pallets.
The fix sits on the floor: slotting built around case velocity, replenishment that triggers on what's being picked, and a shipping check that catches label and quantity mismatches before the truck leaves.
What we change at the pick face and the dock
CPG work tends to focus on the pick face and the shipping dock.
- 01Trace your top chargeback codes back to the floor step that causes them
- 02Re-slot case-pick faces by velocity and cube
- 03Set replenishment triggers on min and max, not the clock
- 04Put lot and date rotation into the pick process, not just the system
- 05Add a shipping check that compares the label and the ASN against the pallet
- 06Write SOPs for peak and promotional volume, then train every shift
You keep your WMS or ERP. Most chargebacks trace back to a skipped check on the floor, and we sell no software.
Most CPG work is a Flight Check timed before your next promotion, then Ground Crew on the pick faces.
If you're building retailer labels by hand or can't send an accurate ASN, the system may be the limit. Flight Plan picks one around your retailers' rules.
How an engagement runs →Common questions
Can you help us dispute chargebacks?
We don't handle the disputes. We help you find which floor errors cause them and fix those, so there are fewer to dispute.
Our biggest problem is promotional peaks. Is that a Flight Check?
It can be. If peak is close, we can focus the work on slotting and replenishment for the promoted SKUs first and pick up the rest after.
Do you work with co-packers or 3PLs?
Yes, if the stock and the process are yours to change. If a 3PL runs the building, we can help you hold them to a clear process and measure it.
Find the floor errors behind your chargebacks.
Thirty minutes on the phone. Tell us which retailers fine you most and we'll tell you where we'd start.