Have Black Friday and Christmas left in their wake devastation in your warehouse?

"Now is the winter of our warehouse discontent, made glorious by the Black Friday rush of ecommerce trading"

• Are your stock locations correct?
• Have you got a pile of returns blocking up your bays?
• Was your picking 100% accurate?
• Were your replenishments put-away in the right place?

With the arrival of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and let us not beat around the bush these events are here to stay, pressure is put on the whole of the supply chain but especially in the warehouse. To ease this extra pressure and reduce workloads temporary agency staff are usually taken on instead of improving processes and systems.

Unfortunately temporary staff can be an expensive, short term solution. If they are thrown in the deep end with no training it can be a double whammy, resulting in mis-picks and damaged stock. Worst of all they can damage your reputation as you will be seen as a company that can’t deliver on its promises. Sound familiar?

“How can I avoid this dreadful situation again?” I hear you ask.

Well the answer is quite simple; plan, plan, plan.  Make use of intelligent warehouse software that allows capacity planning, forward planning and warehouse process execution.  Use a system that controls stock, picking, put-aways and replenishments.  Load planning is another useful tool too.

Not everything can be planned, there will always be unforeseen events, however the right intelligent warehouse software and robust processes can leave you prepared for whatever demands future events throw at you making working life during these occasions a breeze.