Why Seasonal Prep Is Critical
Peak season is a critical time for warehouses and fulfillment centers. Q2 and Q3 accounts for a large portion of total revenue in warehousing. Whether it’s back-to-school, summer promotions or holiday rushes it’s important to prep your warehouse before the rush hits.
Being underprepared can cost a warehouse big, with delayed shipments, overworked staff, and lost revenue.
We’ve compiled 5 expert-backed tips that can set a warehouse up for a successful busy season.
Tip #1: Analyze Last Season’s Data
The best way to forecast demand and forecast how many warehouse workers you will need is to use last season's data. Review KPI’s like volume, fulfillment times, labor shortages, and error rates.
Identify where bottlenecks occurred and when they occurred. Take note if there were ever high-pressure timeframes that could've been completed smoother with a different strategy.
Use predictive analytics to forecast staffing and inventory needs. While you will never be able to exactly forecast what your inventory needs will be, you can adapt your business to be more efficient.
Tip #2: Build a Flexible Staffing Strategy
A flexible staffing strategy is a secret weapon for warehouses who experience variable demand. Many warehouses use on-demand staffing platforms, like Bacon to scale temp labor up or down during busy seasons.
Traditional temp agencies near you have manual, slow and rigid processes to provide temporary warehouse workers. With inflexibility warehouses can’t staff warehouse shifts according to real time demand. And with unclear contracts, finding out how much does a temp agency charges per hour is a headache.
On-demand warehouse job apps are tech driven platforms. Staffing apps are fast, flexible and transparent. Warehouses can find warehouse workers for the shifts they need them.
Scaling warehouse temp staffing up or down is a powerful tool that staffing apps provide. When there are influxes of orders warehouses can post shifts and find pickers and packers to work those shifts. When orders decrease warehouse managers simply don’t post shifts for those days.
Tip #3: Optimize Warehouse Layout and Flow
Optimizing warehouse layout increases the accessibility and efficiency of a warehouse. The first step to optimizing warehouse layout is to ensure high-demand SKUs are easily accessible. These are products that you know will be in high demand and having them accessible will allow warehouse staff to find and pack them easily.
Utilize cross-docking where applicable to reduce storage. Cross-docking requires timing inbound shipments and outbound shipments as well as being sure you find warehouse staff to transfer the shipments quickly.
Optimizing and minimizing walking distances and congestion zones for pickers and packers is another great way to optimize a warehouse. If a worker can do their entire job from their station the flow of a warehouse will be more efficient. This will reduce burnout and turnover of workers so you don’t have to hire picking and packing workers continually.
Tip #4: Upgrade Staff Training and Communication
The term communication may be overused but it is essential for any effective team. Prepare permanent and temp staff with clear roles and SOPs. Use short daily huddles during peak season to align shifts and coordinate between departments.
Implementing tech tools for real-time communication between managers and shift workers.
Another useful tip is to upgrade how staff training takes place. Training full time and part time workers before the season hits will help prepare a warehouse workforce.
Tip #5: Use Real-Time Tech to Track Staffing and Orders
Warehouse management systems (WMS) are not new to the warehouse game. They are a valuable tool to stay updated on order progress and to keep things organized.
Combining WMS with staffing apps ensures shift coverage aligns with fulfillment demand. This also gives real-time insights to shift managers and can help them reassign workers on the fly.
Conclusion
Use the tips to analyze last season's data, build a flexible staffing strategy, optimize warehouse flow, upgrade communication, and use tech to track orders.
These tips can help increase flexibility to give the ultimate advantage in running a warehouse during the busy season.
Start preparing now by building a labor strategy that includes on-demand apps like Bacon. You’ll thank yourself come crunch time