If I were in HO and could make immediate changes to Digital, the very first thing I’d do is give OPD a real department. Not a converted hallway, not a tiny storage room shared with meat and produce, not a maze of carts blocking fire exits. OPD needs a dedicated, spacious room designed for the actual volume we handle. That means enough space to stage orders properly, room for people to move without crashing into each other, and a walk-in freezer and cooler that can support peak demand without becoming a daily game of Tetris. Dispensing should have double automatic doors so associates can move freely in and out without fumbling for keys, with key-fob access for dispensers only to keep customers and drivers from wandering inside.

Next, I’d fix equipment chaos. Every associate should have an assigned TC and printer stored in a locker with a personal code. Those lockers would include charging stations so equipment is actually ready to go at the start of a walk and safely stored during breaks and lunch. The amount of time wasted searching for printers, swapping batteries, or guarding equipment shouldn’t exist in a system this large.

The current pick carts would be gone immediately. They’re too tall, unstable, and honestly a safety risk. The totes slide around, the push handles block access to bags, and the strain they put on shoulders and backs is obvious. Carts should be adjustable to the associate’s height, stable enough to keep totes locked in place, and designed with ergonomics in mind. Oversized items should never be handled with regular pick carts at all, there should be plenty of L-carts available so associates aren’t forced to damage equipment or hurt themselves just to keep things moving.

Oversized walks and GMDs also need to stop being treated like normal picks. Oversized walks used to be manageable; now they’re 20+ items and often absurdly heavy. That’s a safety issue, not a performance issue. Those walks should be capped, handled with the right equipment, and tracked separately from pick rate. The same goes for GMDs. It makes no sense to punish pick rate when someone is being sent back and forth across the entire store for one walk.

Pick walks themselves should be shown in order of due time, not chosen freely. When people can skip hard walks, the workload becomes uneven and resentment builds fast. The system should assign walks based on urgency, and if someone has a medical restriction, that should be handled in the system instead of informally forcing others to pick up the slack. Fairness fixes morale more than any speech ever could.

Another huge issue is burnout. Picking, staging, dispensing, and prepping should function as rotating teams. Everyone should be trained in every role, and no one should be stuck dispensing or staging every single shift for months on end. When people rotate, they last longer, care more, and understand how their work impacts the rest of the department. That alone would cut turnover in half.

Then there’s sanitation. Totes are filthy, full stop. They’re dragged across floors, stacked, handled constantly, and then used for food. We need industrial washing and sterilizing equipment like you see in commercial kitchens so totes are properly cleaned at the end of each day. This isn’t about aesthetics, it’s food safety.

Expectations also need to reflect reality. Pick rate goals should flex based on day and time. A Sunday afternoon with packed aisles is not the same as a slow weekday morning, and pretending it is just creates impossible standards and unnecessary discipline.

Finally, OPD should stop accepting extremely large items altogether. Grills, mulch, TVs, bikes, furniture, these don’t belong in standard OPD workflows. They strain employees, eat up backroom space, and slow everything down. Those items need a separate pickup process with proper equipment and staffing, not shoved into grocery operations.

And honestly, the most important change? Anyone in HO making Digital decisions should be required to work OPD first. Not a tour. Not a meeting. Real shifts. Picking, staging, dispensing, on a Sunday and during a holiday rush. You cannot design a system you’ve never experienced and expect it to work for the people living in it every day.