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The holidays mean a lot of things for a lot of people, depending on what (and how) you celebrate. Of course, for the warehouse managers of the world, the holidays often mean an increase in items – and business. If you want to make sure your facility will be on top of the approaching holiday rush, here’s a few tips to make sure your warehouse, inventory, and staff will be prepared for whatever the holiday shopping season brings, no matter what your industry.

 

Get The Staff You Need

Most retailers increase sales staff before the holidays, and while it might not be immediately obvious, increasing warehouse staff can provide similar benefits. Take a look at last year’s sales and shipping figures to figure out what kind of extra staff you’ll need to effectively keep up with demand and reduce stress on your existing workers.

 

Update Your Floor Plan

The great increase in inbound and outbound items means that there may have to be some tweaks done to your warehouse layout to accommodate everything. Make repairs or perform maintenance on anything that looks like it needs the help, add additional resources to assist with packaging and outbound, and add some extra industrial storage to make sure you have room for the sudden influx of items for shipping – there’s nothing that will upset customers more than knowing the perfect item they needed for Christmas won’t be there in time.

 

Perfect Your Processes

Especially after bringing on a lot of new staff members, you’ll want to make sure your staff is well-trained on your various processes, as well as ensuring these processes are well-documented and refined. Get your staff trained on picking, packaging standards, and equipment operation as early as possible to make sure daily operations go as smoothly as possible, which is more crucial right now than ever.

 

Prepare For The Unexpected

The weather and workload of the holidays can always bring some…less-than-welcome surprises. Equipment can break down, trucks can have trouble arriving at their destination, and employees can get snowed in and prevented from arriving at the office. While you can’t prepare or prevent literally everything, taking steps to mitigate these issues will do a lot to ensure smooth operations for your whole facility. Keep equipment and trucks regularly maintained, make sure you’re appropriately staffed to cover any absences, establish secondary delivery routes where needed, and try to have spares available of everything just in case.

 

Over the holidays, your company’s profits and your customer satisfaction level are going to be more on the line than any other point during the year. Taking precautions to ensure smooth operations will go a long way in ensuring a successful holiday season.

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