Is Your FC Ready For The 2016 Holiday Season?

Yes…as crazy as it sounds, it is that time again already; time to begin the process of preparing for the

mad rush of orders that tend to flood in during the holidays.  And I know what you are thinking:

·         What are my productivity goals?

·         Do I have enough staff?

·         Is my equipment running efficiently and ready to take on the extra load?

·         What are my contingency plans should something go wrong?

·         Do I have enough supplies?

All of these questions are very important to answer; however, out of all of them, there is one that has the potential to bring an entire distribution center to a screeching halt and IS preventable. The last question about having enough supplies is one that, if miscalculated, could cost an FC hundreds or thousands of dollars per every minute their lines are not moving.  Shipping labels, barcode labels, any other process specific distribution labels, boxes, and other consumables are absolutely a necessity to ship out products.  Lose any one of these and you will be in panic mode.

So how do you prepare and know how much you may need?  What happens if you do run out? Those two questions have a loaded answer and they both revolve around research. A distribution center needs to look at historical shipment data and combine that with projected growth percentages to get a baseline approximation of what they will need to stay afloat during the holidays. That is a very simplified way to estimate; however, it is a starting point.  Once you know those numbers, you need to take a hard look at your suppliers and make sure they can keep up with your demand, be able to provide supplies at lightning speed if needed, and do both while maintaining quality and competitive process. 

Printingworx® can do all of these and more! We are a leading expert in providing quality label printing at great prices and we understand the dynamic of distribution centers.  Not just that, we have warehouses and plant locations throughout the United States to make sure if you need labels in a pinch; we can be there!