When most people hear about Black Week, they think about selling as much as possible in a limited time. Let's hope many have also thought about how all of it will actually be delivered. We gathered a few tips from the independent logistics company Proflow that we are happy to share. You have thought about everything, right?
When most people hear about Black Week, they think about selling as much as possible in a limited time. Let us hope that many have also thought about how all of it will actually be delivered.
We had a chat with the independent logistics company Proflow and asked Johanna Linder, Charlotte Elmquist and Anders Urhed for a few tips.
Can you outsource simple handling, set up temporary external buffer storage to free up space in the warehouse, can full-pallet handling and single-line orders be handled separately, perhaps even outsource parts of this flow?
Prepare maintenance of your equipment and, if needed, place and rebuild pallet racking and shelf locations to match your temporary need for pick and buffer locations.
Remember that the week contains 24 hours and 7 days. Which activities do you have that are not part of the daily flow that can be pulled out? Replenishment and stock care need to be top-notch in an efficient warehouse flow. You can use the early mornings or nights for that.
Do not bring in staff based only on daily volume. Train up staff in time for the harder tasks and new steps you need, and keep untrained temporary staff isolated to the simpler tasks.
Remember that when the staff group grows drastically, so does the need for team leads to steer the workflow and the prioritisations, which during a peak have to be made more frequently, on an hourly or minute basis.
Another player in the market that will have plenty to do is Instabox. We had a chat with head of communications Victor Melander to take the temperature.
"Black Week is naturally a big focus right now for the whole organisation and we are working on planning and optimisation to meet the increased pressure that both Black Week and Christmas shopping bring. We have been continuously building out our capacity in the form of more lockers, more terminals and many more fantastic employed couriers and terminal workers. We have also expanded our says Victor Melander.
A last-minute tip from Martin Zellman at Commerce Mind: a concrete measure everyone should think about is to review your shipping options during the big and important periods ahead and make sure you change shipping method to the one you think will serve you best. There will be heavy pressure on pick and pack, so make sure to create the best possible conditions to deliver a great experience even during Black Week.
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