Supply Chain Excellence: 10 Tips for Conquering Peak Season

No matter how much companies try to proactively predict and prepare for peak demand, it often isn’t enough, especially with the massive growth in eCommerce. Peaks are challenging because of their fleeting nature: a peak is not a constant, and it’s hard to gauge the degree of flexibility and agility your business will need (and when and where it will be needed). Adding a new layer of complexity to peak planning is the ongoing labor shortage being felt throughout the supply chain.

At DHL Supply Chain, we work closely with customers to prepare for peak periods, putting our planning, analytics and operations excellence in place to enable them to succeed. In 2021, DHL Supply Chain processed three million orders with more than 11 million items shipped during the seven-day time period between November 26 (Black Friday) and December 3. Based on this experience, and the insight we have gained, here are 10 tips for upping your game as you prepare for peak season.

1. Create and communicate a clear plan across your organization and with your logistics provider that focuses on successful execution as peak periods approach.
2. Stress test your supply chain to ensure it can handle planned peak volume and identify additional capacity needs, noting where you might have gaps in labor and determining if technology, such as robot-assisted picking solutions, can be strategically and quickly deployed as needed. 
3. Leverage automation experience and expertise to ensure new technologies can be deployed with minimal disruption to operations and deliver a quick return on investment in time for peak season.
4. Bring together a multi-functional team that works together during planning for and execution of peak season, including specialists from operations, engineering, HR and IT to ensure the right expertise is available at every stage of the process.
5. Create a comfortable working environment for warehouse workers that utilizes innovative technologies and is designed to enhance productivity and well-being, while also serving as a recruitment tool to help attract seasonal hires. 
6. Employ machine learning models that learn from past and current peak seasons to enable you to make decisions more effectively on positioning inventory to meet consumer demands.
7. Maintain operational flexibility that utilizes a strategic blend of warehouse robotics and automation, such as robot-assisted picking solutions, to enhance productivity of existing workers and offset labor shortages.
8. Establish benchmarks based on previous year’s results, conducting a detailed review of successes and failures and ensure learnings are applied across your organization.
9. Streamline your processes to ensure supply chain efficiency, modifying or discarding established ones that no longer function properly or align within your changing operation and the new technology you are deploying.
10. Partner with a Third-Party Logistics Provider (3PL), such as DHL Supply Chain, that can leverage its expertise, experience, planning and analytics to help you better plan for peak performance and success.

The key to effectively navigating peak periods is moving from a reactive state to a more proactive planning approach. Following these tips will help ensure you are better prepared and organized to overcome unforeseen challenges and successfully manage peak demand.

For more information about e-commerce support from DHL Supply Chain, visit dhl.com/supplychain/ecommerce.