It happens every year. Orders skyrocket. Established workflows falter. Team members have to move more material in less and less time.
Q4 peak season pushes your operation to its max, stressing your processes, staff and tools. But it doesn’t have to.
Here are six small tips to help make peak season smoother for operational teams in e-commerce, fulfillment and material handling.
1. Evaluate your preparedness from a 30,000-foot view
Some operations do 60% of their entire business during the last few months of the year. Others see a 25% increase from the previous quarter.
Ask yourself: Is your operation prepared for the one month of the year, or only the other eleven?
• Do you have forecasts of your demand?
• Do you have the raw material and inventory to fill those forecasts?
• Does your team know what to expect?
• Have you taken learnings from last year into account?
Preparedness starts with awareness. When you and your team are both aware of what’s coming during this season, you’re able to navigate both the operational and emotional stresses that will inevitably come your way.
2. Staff proactively, rather than reactively
Most businesses need a surplus of staff during peak season to fulfill demand, as permanent staff may not be able to move the volume of inventory required.
Ask yourself:
• Do you have enough team members to move product?
• Are there sufficient breaks built into schedules to prevent overwork?
• Are there still roles you need to fill?
When permanent team members are given help during peak season, they’re more engaged and productive.
3. Ensure you have enough of the right carts
As more volume moves through your space, there’s pressure to pick, move and load items faster.
Questions to ask yourself:
• Do you have enough carts for team members to perform without disruption?
• Do you need more carts for larger items, or for a higher volume of smaller items?
• Can your carts be stored easily when not in use?
• Are your carts sized to navigate your aisles?
If your current cart lineup isn’t cutting it, these options might help your operation.
14- or 16-bushel permanent style bulk truck
These carts are good for handling small, non-bulky items that require more frequent change outs. They also work well in tighter areas in between workstations.
24-bushel permanent style bulk truck
If your goal is to reduce the number of carts you need while carrying the most volume, the 24-bushel cart is a strong option.
For convenience, each of these options can be stacked and stored when not in use.
4. Prioritize ergonomic equipment and tools
Injured teammates, downtime and drops in morale all derail operations. And all increase in frequency when you’re working with a higher quantity of products. After all, more volume means more lifting.
To mitigate the chances of injury, you need to know the likelihood of injury during peak season:
• How much more lifting is expected from your team?
• Do they have access to spring lift platforms so that bending and lifting is minimized?
• Did you see any injuries in previous peak seasons?
An elevated spring lift platform may be what you need to minimize potentially dangerous bending and lifting while loading and unloading carts.
5. Consider color coding for visual organization
In the Q4 frenzy, being able to glance at your warehouse space and quickly identify what products are meant for what destination (loading, stocking) helps you manage your operation.
While tags and stencils do the job, they might be difficult to identify from a distance. Instead, consider implementing a cart color-coding system.
A few strategies include:
• One color cart for inbound inventory, another for outbound
• Specific colors for use only in certain areas of the floor (staging, picking)
• Color coding based on item fragility to ensure proper handling
E-commerce fulfillment operations use the six colors of our 14-bushel permanent style bulk truck for this precise purpose.
6. Execute a peak season postmortem
After peak season ends, schedule a postmortem to help your operations continuously improve. It’s important to do this shortly after your busiest time so your staff remembers what worked and what didn’t.
Use the following questions to assess how you did this year and help you plan for the next.
• Did your actual demand match your forecast? If not, why?
• Did you have the necessary inventory and staff to fulfill demand?
• Did you encounter delays? If so, what caused them?
• Where in your process did bottlenecks arise? Staging? Pickup? Somewhere else?
• Where on your floor did bottlenecks arise?
• How could you have prevented those bottlenecks?
• If there were any injuries, why did they occur? What could have prevented them?
Let us help you make your peak season smoother
Peak season is a stressful time for every operations team in e-commerce and fulfillment.
You’re not alone as you fight bottlenecks and deal with unexpected issues. Your carts don’t need to be among those issues. If it’s time to upgrade or expand your fleet, talk to our team. We’ll help you find the right carts to fit your needs, operations and products. Let’s talk.