Pause for a while and learn about your inventory, transportation, and cleaning procedures in order to successfully achieve seasonal surges.

The global supply chain has overcome difficulties this year. But in the face of constantly changing online ordering requirements, material shortages, and logistics difficulties, one thing has not changed: the holidays arrive on time. Check these five parts of your business to make sure you are ready to deal with the peak holiday shipping period and end the year strongly.

Keeping your inventory and supplies organized and easily accessible is vital. The right storage solution allows team members to find products to complete orders quickly, allowing your business to avoid backlogs and keep the supply chain running.

Set aside. Commercial shelves are an ideal starting point for small-scale operations. Options range from modular plastic units to powder-coated steel frames, as well as options for mass storage. Although the shelf height of most units can be customized, special attention should be paid to the shelf material. Some plastic shelves, as well as aluminum or steel wire fixtures, have "ventilated" shelves. This allows for better air circulation, but does not contain spills, and certain items may hang or fall over on ventilated shelves. If you need a flat surface, look for a solid board.

Trash cans and handbags. Durable trash bins and tote bags help to effectively sort and mark inventory. Like shelving, storage box options include solid boxes or ventilated/mesh crates. The ideal choice will depend on what is stored. Do you need a ventilated crate to allow air circulation? Will your product spill or leak, making solid waste bins ideal for holding debris? Some options can be stacked or nested inside each other when empty, making off-season storage easy. 

Pallet rack. If your large business receives large amounts of inventory on pallets, consider equipping your warehouse or distribution area with pallet racks. Pallet racks are designed to accommodate the size and weight of pallet materials, which can easily use more vertical space for inventory storage or avoid inventory backlog when needed. The pre-configured pallet racking starter kits are ideal to start because they can be easily expanded with add-ons as your needs grow. Accessories such as safety cages and high-density storage bins can protect your storage area.

Equipped with workstations for preparing orders to maximize the efficiency of your team. The ideal packaging workstation will have a spacious, smooth work space, and can easily obtain the consumables needed to prepare orders for shipment, including industrial and wholesale packaging items such as shipping boxes, bubble envelopes, polyethylene envelopes, packaging peanuts, and shipping labels.

Although having multiple packaging stations can make your team successful, you can consider using an assembly line with conveyors to keep the product moving. Pulley or steel roller gravity conveyors are available in built-in or portable configurations. Each option allows team members to easily send orders from one site to another for fulfillment, packaging, and quality control.  

When your packed orders are ready to be shipped, the appropriate equipment will deliver them to the door. Pallet jacks, forklifts, cranes and cranes can help your team deliver products to your transportation partner’s truck.

Pallet jacks are an important part of warehouse equipment, allowing an operator to easily move pallets from your distribution floor to the truck. Pallet jacks can hold thousands of pounds, but keep in mind that their maximum lifting height is usually only a few inches. On the other hand, the lifting platform is a scissor-type pneumatic platform that can lift materials to a height of several feet. This mobility helps to select and supply storage racks and shelves in the facility. Some lifting tables can lift and rotate materials as needed.

Forklifts can be used to retrieve pallet materials from higher shelves, move them around the facility floor, and lift them to the height of the truck floor for loading. Similarly, if your distribution floor is on the ground and there is no dock for loading transport trucks, a forklift may be a good solution.

Be sure to equip your dock or loading area with appropriate accessories to ensure safe and smooth loading and unloading. The tire bearing block and trailer stabilizing jack bracket ensure the safety of the trailer and lift. Dock lights help illuminate the loading area for added safety, while doors ensure you control when materials enter and exit your facility. 

Not all materials that enter your warehouse will return through the shipping door. When you prepare for the increase in orders for this season, please prepare your retail space to display your products.

Hangers, hanging basket shelves, slatted walls, and display tables and display cabinets provide a variety of options for displaying your products and making attractive sales. Don’t forget to add a countertop display to draw attention to smaller items near the checkout counter.

The proliferation of holiday activities is bound to affect your employees and your space. Keeping clean procedures will ensure that your inventory is protected from damage and that your space is suitable for guests and your team.

Well-equipped businesses should store cleaning supplies, including solutions, rags, mops, brooms, and floor scrubbers, in supply cabinets. Using a shadow board can help ensure that the product returns after use and is ready for the next job, avoiding wasting time searching for misplaced equipment.

Facility maintenance should start with sweeping and removing dirt and debris, and then use a floor scrubber to clean the rest of the distribution floor. (If you don't clean the mats of the scrubber first, you may be clogged with particle fragments, thereby damaging the floor itself.) For carpeted indoor floors, please prepare an industrial vacuum cleaner. High-traffic areas need to be vacuumed regularly to maintain the appearance and prevent dust and debris from entering your storage space.  

If your space does not have a convenient area to store cleaning supplies, consider using a cleaning trolley. Following best cleaning guidelines, these self-sufficient portable trolleys can hold everything and keep everything in place, including garbage collection, brooms and dustpans, mops and buckets, spray cleaners, and information and hazard signs.

And don’t forget about safety. Keeping facilities clean and orderly helps reduce the risk of trips and falls. Likewise, ensuring that your team is fully rested during this busy time and working at a sustainable speed can reduce the chance of fatigue-induced injury or product damage.

The holiday peak is a period when your business is booming. Now take a moment to keep your storage, transportation, sanitation and safety procedures in order. Contact Global Industrial's product experts and ask to help you find the solutions you need to succeed this season.

Companies deliver small amounts of goods more frequently, allowing logistics professionals to manage more in an increasingly complex network.

With the development of e-commerce, robots, conveyor belts and software have become the main components of the warehouse. 

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Companies deliver small amounts of goods more frequently, allowing logistics professionals to manage more in an increasingly complex network.

With the development of e-commerce, robots, conveyor belts and software have become the main components of the warehouse. 

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