If you’re still feeling a little shell shocked after the run up to Christmas 2013 then now is the time to take a step back and reassess the state of your fulfilment house. With most of the post-Christmas January sales out of the way, it is the perfect time to fix any problems that occurred during or just after the Christmas rush.
Tidy up your fulfilment house
With such huge volumes of stock, and employees and temporary staff
working flat out to pick orders ready for their next day or even same
day deliveries, there are likely to have been several casualties as far
as floor organisation are concerned.
It’s a big task, so approach it methodically to ensure that every square inch of your warehouse has been covered and that everything is put back in its rightful place. Take a handful of your long term employees—those who know the place like the back of their hand—and ask them to reorganise and tidy the floor, de-cluttering and keeping an eye out for any potential health and safety issues as they go.
Check everything’s in working order
A lot of your fulfilment services will run through automated machinery and will have been pushed to breaking point in the run up to Christmas, with hundreds of extra orders being processed.Use the quiet period to have all the machines thoroughly examined and checked for wear and tear. This also goes for other equipment big and small, such as pallet trucks or even hand held scanners, as fixing or replacing any equipment now will avoid problems during busy periods in the future.
Maximise organisation
During the busiest times, what parts of your warehouse management system worked well and which did not? Was everything clearly labelled and signposted to help new employees fulfil orders with ease? Ask your staff for feedback and find out where improvements could be made.It’s easy to become too relaxed in the post-Christmas months – everyone wants to enjoy the lull. While taking a break and congratulating yourselves for a job well done is important, reorganising early on can only help make your company be the best possible for the coming year.
