Christmas Supply Chain Issues

Christmas is a magical time of year. Some consumers might like to snuggle up with a hot chocolate to do their Christmas shopping online, while others prefer the hustle and bustle of a busy shopping street. However, what goes on behind the beautiful facade of the shop floor is far from enjoyable. People expect their orders to arrive at the door on time, and for shop floors to be kept fully stocked at all times, but at a peak shopping time like Christmas, there are plenty of places along the supply chain where orders can get delayed.

In this article we will look at the challenges facing the supply chain at Christmas and how these can be combatted.

Why are there supply issues at Christmas?

On average, people in the UK spend between £700-£973 per head during the Christmas period. This puts a huge strain on everyone involved in the supply chain to take products from manufacture to delivery. Many factors contribute to issues in the supply chain. These include:

Increased orders

Understandably, orders increase significantly at Christmas. This increased volume of orders necessitates meticulous planning and execution at every stage of the process. One small error could cause a domino effect of errors, leading to delays.

Increased returns

Almost a third of consumers return their Christmas gifts, and with hundreds of thousands of gifts being bought, that equates to a huge amount of items needing to be sent back to warehouses across the world. Companies are therefore not only dealing with the supply chain from manufacturer to delivery, but also the return of many of those products back to the warehouses.

Inflation

Inflation doesn’t just affect the consumers at Christmas. As prices for raw materials, packaging, labour and transportation continue to skyrocket, manufacturers find themselves having to deal with increased production costs. This may lead to them needing to look elsewhere for more competitive prices which in turn could delay orders.

Staff shortages and temp staff

Members of staff will often request time off over Christmas to spend it with their families. This can be very difficult for employers to manage as it is often multiple members of staff who will request leave at the same time. There also may be an increase in temp staff who have been brought in to help manage the Christmas demand. These members of staff will not be as familiar with the role as others or may require training meaning operations may take longer.

More susceptibility to errors

The bigger workload and short time frames that come with the Christmas period mean that errors are more likely to occur. The increase of Christmas temp staff also contributes to the likelihood of more errors as many companies are dealing with a large number of cover staff who are all new to the job.

Lorry driver shortages

Since Brexit, the number of EU citizens working as HGV drivers in the UK has fallen by 14,000. In addition to that, the pandemic has led to a huge backlog of driving tests meaning potential lorry drivers cannot pass their test and start working. This shortage means that even if manufacturers can work through the challenges in the production line, there is no guarantee that delivery will be plain sailing.

What is the solution?

Although some challenges are out of the hands of everyone in the supply chain, there are things that can be implemented to make the Christmas period easier and the supply chain run as smoothly as possible.

Prep early

38.1% of people start their Christmas shopping before November and a whopping 69.8% of people start before 1st December. For this reason, it is so important for all those involved in the supply chain to prepare for the rush as early as possible.

Address any staff shortages and provide sufficient training

In terms of your existing workforce, ensure that staff who require time off over Christmas book it well in advance and that arrangements are made for cover staff.

In addition, 63% of retailers hired extra staff during the Christmas 2022 period with many of those being utilised to support warehousing and logistical components of the supply chain. New staff require training so it's important to ensure you provide sufficient, good quality training rather than simply dropping them in at the deep end. Why? Because a lack-of or poor training can lead to inefficiencies, delays and avoidable damage to goods which ultimately costs you more in the long run; both financially and in terms of reputational damage and customer loyalty.

Take a simple task such as wrapping a pallet. Whilst those us of experienced in warehousing and logistics can wrap a pallet in our sleep, it's easy to forget that those without training can make rookie mistakes such as overloading, incorrect stacking, not applying sufficient tension, and more.

To help tackle that, you may find the following guides helpful:

• How to wrap a pallet the right way to reduce costs, damage and injury and
• Common shrink film problems and how to solve them

Prioritise demands

Understand your customers’ needs and any trending purchases before the holiday rush kicks in. Have a buffer in the warehouse to cater to any unexpected issues and keep an eye on customer feedback. Ensure that you prioritise effectively to avoid any disappointments for your clients.

Be transparent

If there are any issues with timings, it is important to be transparent so as not to break that trust with anyone you associate with in the supply chain.

Ensure your plastic packaging doesn’t add to supply chain issues

At Polyflex we supply UK companies with strong, reliable, high quality polythene packaging across a wide range of industries. We want you to be safe in the knowledge that even if there is a delay with any of your products, they can remain safely and securely wrapped for days or even months.

Contact us today to order a free sample or place an order.