Distribution During the Holidays Done Right

The holiday season is the busiest time of the year. With so much to do and so little time, everyone is constantly running ragged during this entire 3 month period. For distribution centers like Standard Distribution Co., things are no different.

Every year the chaos in the distribution builds as we approach the holidays. This season is filled with challenges, but also huge rewards.

According to Deloitte’s 2017 holiday survey, each household is expected to spend $228 more than they did in the previous year. An astounding 83% of these survey respondents also said that they will be making purchases through devices like desktops and laptops. As you can probably imagine, this creates an incredible boom in the distribution industry. From warehousing to packaging to complete product fulfillment, every distributor is expected to be firing on all cylinders during this time of year.

Surviving The Surge

It can seem rather daunting and almost impossible to approach this situation. That is why every distributor needs a game plan on how to handle the holidays. Cerasis published a great article on how distributors can stay ahead of the curve. In the article, they describe 5 major ways in which shippers can improve their holiday logistics:

1. Set a Benchmark: The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Take the time to look at previous year’s sales volumes. This can give you a good idea of how many products you will be working with, which will give you clear estimates of what to store in warehousing, how much time you will need to process orders, etc.
2. OmniChannel Inventories: Integrate your inventories into one single stream of information. This allows you to look at the bigger picture, rather than confusing yourself over dozens of different documents.
3. Get Involved: The best way to oversee an operation is to actually see it first hand. Get out of your office and take a walk out on the floor. This allows you to see how well operations are functioning and if there are any major problems that you need to immediately solve.
4. Anticipate Staffing Needs: With all of the added inventory, you are going to need some extra hands to move and process it. Make sure that all stations are equipped with enough employees to keep fulfillment operations running smoothly.
5. Set Early Deadlines: It is always better to be safe than sorry. As a quality distributor, you should already be very familiar with your product’s throughput times. Give this a little extra cushion to ensure that you will not fall behind. Once your operation begins to lag, it can be hard to recover as orders just continue to flood in. Stay ahead of the game and set an early deadline.

Happy Holidays From Standard

We here at Standard Distribution Co. would like to extend our warmest regards to you and your family during this holiday season. Our business depends on the satisfaction of our beloved customers. Without you, we would not be here today. Thank you for your continued business and consideration!