Warehouse optimisation
Tips and ideas to prepare your warehouse for peaks in demand
If you’re responsible for the smooth operation of your business’s warehouse, you’ll be acutely aware of the challenges faced during peak season.
Peak season is the period, typically between November and January, when seasonal events and sales promotions lead to a significant increase in demand. During this time, warehouses see larger inventories, increased picking and packing activity, and temporary staff requirements. However, there are a number of ways to cope with these challenges.
This guide provides 21 tips and ideas for ensuring continued warehouse efficiency throughout peak season. Split into six distinct areas, covering planning, staff, inventory management, and more, it can help you successfully navigate this crucial period. They also complement the 45 bite-size tips for general improvement of your warehouse.
Contents
Introduction
Peak season in the UK
Whilst the Christmas period has always been busy for UK retailers, the advent of the internet, along with events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, has created a surge in consumer demand from November through to the January sales.
Whilst welcome, this significant increase in sales activity places additional stress on business warehousing, logistics and the wider supply chain.
Businesses often report bottlenecks in picking and packing. It can be difficult to find (and train) the necessary staff. And, of course, consumers shopping online expect ever-faster delivery times.
All this means that warehouses can become incredibly stretched, affecting fulfilment and delivery times and, ultimately, customer satisfaction.
Preparing for warehouse peak periods
21 tips to maximise your business' success during peak
Despite all the challenges, a successful peak period is vital to your business. As such, there are numerous ways to maximise your chances of success while mitigating potential difficulties.
The top 21 tips to prepare your warehouse for peak season include:
- Start your planning early.
- Forecast upcoming inventory levels.
- Ensure your stock figures are accurate.
- Identify high-selling/fast-moving stock.
- Assess (and refine) your warehouse layout.
- Add additional storage capacity as required.
- Ensure high picking accuracy.
- Consider barcodes, automated picking tools RFID tags.
- Service and repair warehouse equipment.
- Assess (and consider upgrading) your WMS.
- Focus on minimising packing times.
- Optimise the size of your packaging.
- Consider the sustainability of your packaging.
- Review (and refine) your packing processes.
- Develop specific packing guidelines.
- Set up well-equipped packing stations.
- Automate repetitive tasks.
- Plan for additional staffing levels.
- Thoroughly train staff (including temps).
- Consider how you can reduce returns.
- Streamline the management of returns.
Planning
Start your planning early
The best time to start planning for peak season is immediately after finishing the last one. However, it is never too late to start. Planning early allows you plenty of time to get everything required in place, make adjustments, and for your team to be fully accustomed to any changes implemented since last year.
Forecast upcoming inventory levels
It is vital that you work with the relevant departments at your business (including purchasing, sales, marketing, etc.) to get forecasts of how much additional stock you are expecting to receive over peak season. This allows you to ensure you have adequate storage space and purchase additional temporary picking bins if necessary.
Ensure your stock figures are accurate
Along with knowing the additional stock you are expecting, it is also crucial to have a complete understanding of where you are currently. Inaccurate stock figures can cause many problems, not least picking errors and delays or disappointing customers. It is also impossible to plan your warehousing requirements if you do not have an accurate picture of your current inventory.
Identify high-selling/fast-moving lines
Another useful tip is to try and predict or identify any products or lines that are likely to sell quickly during peak season. These can be strategically placed in your warehouse to minimise picking times, helping to improve the overall efficiency of your operations.
Order picking
Add storage capacity
Once you have identified your existing and expected stock levels, you can ensure you have adequate storage space. As mentioned previously, this may involve the purchase of additional temporary or permanent picking bins, racking or other storage solutions to cope. Using Correx pick bins, available in custom sizes, can help you maximise precious space.
Assess warehouse layout
However, depending on how well your warehouse is laid out, you may not need to look for additional storage capacity. But, as well as ascertaining if you need additional capacity, assessing your warehouse layout can answer numerous other questions. Are similar lines housed together? Are products that are frequently ordered together close to each other or at opposite ends of your site? Does your warehouse layout allow you to take advantage of advanced picking strategies? Getting all this right can be crucial to your success.
Picking accuracy
Your warehouse layout is vital for fast order picking, but it also helps with picking accuracy. Surprisingly, additional storage can help here, allowing clearer segmentation and labelling of stock and logical grouping of specific lines. Using suitable picking bins is also vital.
Barcodes, automated picking tools, RFID tags
Mis-picks are, however, often the result of simple human error. If the number of picking errors you see is too high, then technology such as barcoding, scanners, RFID tags, and even picking robots can all help minimise them. These solutions must be in place well before peak season, though, to ensure users are thoroughly familiar with the systems.
Assess your WMS
Alongside introducing barcoding or similar solutions, if you use warehouse management software (WMS), assessing if it is still fit for purpose is a good idea. Modern WMS can integrate with your eCommerce shop platforms and other systems to ensure data consistency across your business. Again, however, you need any project to change this to be complete at least a few months before peak season to ensure any teething problems are fully ironed out.
Service and repair equipment
Any equipment your staff use in your warehouse, including pallet trucks, picking carts, conveyors, and automated machinery, should be serviced, and any repairs carried out to prevent breakdowns during peak season.
Packing and dispatch
Review packing processes
It is important to review the current packaging you are using well in advance of peak season. Everything from the packing materials to the processes and how the packaging performs in your supply chain should all be considered. Even the size of your packaging inventory and where you store it can affect fulfilment times. Preparing your packaging for peak season is vital.
Packing times
Reducing packing times can have a surprisingly significant impact on your business. Not only does it allow you to ship more products more quickly, but it can also help reduce your staff costs. For example, using crash-lock boxes instead of 0201 cartons minimises the need for tape, reducing costs and speeding up fulfilment.
Develop packing guidelines
Clear, well-defined guidelines on how your staff should pack orders can help them do so efficiently and consistently. Guidelines should include which size of corrugated packaging to use for specific orders, which void fill or inserts to add, how to apply tape, and any other extras (such as labels, leaflets, or gift vouchers) that should be added. Consistent packing across your staff should not only improve fulfilment times but also minimise instances of damage (preventing orders from being sent out in incorrect packaging).
Packing stations
Properly setting up your packing stations is another way to help minimise packing times. Having everything to hand prevents delays and can also ensure the correct materials are used (again, for consistent packing). Considering ergonomics and anti-fatigue mats can also help improve comfort for your packing staff, who may have to stand for long periods.
Automate repetitive tasks
Finally, you may find it is possible to automate some repetitive tasks. For example, automated void fill dispensers or taping machines could help reduce packing times and free up staff for other tasks.
Optimise packaging size
Choosing the correct size of packaging is also vital. Using postal boxes that are too big costs more, as they use extra material and void fill and affect transport efficiency. They can also frustrate customers, potentially harming repeat business. Staff should also know which box or packaging to use, particularly if you have decided to rationalise your inventory.
Consider sustainability
Throughout your packing operations, it is vital to consider sustainability. Are the boxes you’re using the best size available? Are you using as little void fill (without harming product protection) as possible? Are you wrapping products in unnecessary shrink wrap or other plastics? Using genuinely eco-friendly packaging can have a significant impact on the sustainability of your operations.
Staff
Plan for additional staffing levels
Regardless of how many efficiency gains you can make, the likelihood is that you will need more staff during peak season. It is worth engaging with recruitment and temping agencies well in advance to start getting plans in place. You may also find that students are looking for seasonal work to support their studies. With labour availability typically tight during this period, it is wise to get everything in place as early as possible.
Train staff (including temps)
New staff and temps will need “onboarding” quickly to hit the ground running. However, it is equally vital to ensure your permanent and existing staff are suitably trained, too. This is particularly important when you have made changes to warehouse layouts, packing processes, or other plans designed to improve the overall efficiency of your warehouse.
Returns
Reduce returns (damages)
Although already mentioned in the section regarding packaging, consistent packing can have a huge impact on the volume of returns you receive. Well-packed goods are considerably less likely to become damaged in transit, preventing costly returns.
Streamline returns management
Unfortunately, your warehouse will always have to process a certain number of returns. Having a robust, stand-alone policy for handling these returns is vital during peak periods, particularly given the strain your warehouse is already likely to be under. Keeping them separate from items being dispatched, checking and returning to stock promptly (with necessary inventory data updates) is crucial.
Summary
Preparing your warehouse for peak season
Getting your warehouse operations in shape for peak season can be the difference between a successful and mediocre year. Fulfilling your customers’ orders in a timely, efficient fashion that avoids damage in transit can even help you retain business on an ongoing basis.
At GWP, we supply both packaging and a range of warehouse storage solutions (including picking bins) so we can help you make the most of peak season. Our experts can even provide a complete packaging audit that covers every touchpoint and ensures your operations are as efficient and cost-effective as possible.
Please get in touch to see how we can help your business prepare your warehouse for peak season.
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About the author
Emily, an expert in anti-static and returnable packaging, joined GWP Group – and the fledgling GWP Correx® division – in 2014.
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