November 1st, 2021

Preparing for High Season with the Right Pallet Plan

Seasonality Planning Essentials

With Christmas, Black Friday, and other peak trade and promotional seasons on the horizon, your business needs to scale and plan accordingly to meet your customer’s rising demands. So many things are going on behind the scenes, and you must ensure that you have what you need to prepare for these busy periods.

One important tool is a clear plan for your pallets. Pallets and pallet racks can be a valuable part of your inventory, and getting a solid pallet plan in place is key to ensuring that you’ll be prepared when your busiest season comes around.

Find out how to organise your pallets and ensure that you’re equipped with this guide – get started now, so you won’t find yourself trying to catch up when things get really busy!

Why it’s Important to Prepare for the Rush

Preparing for this end-of-year rush is essential to keep productivity up and avoid a mess of pallets in the way when you need them most. It’s not just about where you store your pallets, but also what type of storage you use, if any at all.

We all know that the holidays are coming up, and we need to plan for peak season. However, this year, there’s a lot more to it. With constant issues circulating around the post-Brexit supply chain, you need to be prepared for anything.

Post-Brexit UK Supply Chain Threats

After Brexit reached its final stage at the beginning of 2021, the UK faced many manufacturing and supply chain issues and logistics business were massively impacted nationwide. One of the most prominent threats to British business is the supply chain of goods that come from the EU.

High tariffs are being placed on various products, and there seems to be a constant threat hanging over our heads. Our suppliers are nervous about the future of their businesses, which makes it very hard to order extra stock for peak periods.

This lack of confidence can really hurt your business if you’re not prepared. So to avoid any issues this year, start your preparations now.

What You Need to Know About Pallet Racking for Peak Seasons

Pallet rack systems such as stillages are one of the most popular storage solutions out there right now, but they can be hugely beneficial during high seasons like Black Friday and Christmas too.

As long as you have a solid plan for what you’ll be stowing where, and why, your warehouse racking can be an invaluable tool.

To give yourself the best chance of success this year, make sure you have a clear map of how your storage will work, including your pallets. This will help ensure that everything is in its place when you need it, and saves you from a headache later down the line.

With that being said, below are 8 tips to consider in your pallet plan this year.

Your Pallet Plan for Your Busiest Season Yet

We’ve compiled the following 8-step framework for you and your team to follow to ensure you’re covering all bases when it comes to planning resources and capacity to meet consumer demand in the months ahead.

1. Plan for Peak Seasons

Getting ready for the high season begins before the actual event starts; you need to be aware of upcoming high seasons and prepare your business accordingly. If dashing around at the last minute isn’t how you like to do business, spending some time now will make a big difference in how your business handles the rush when high season arrives.

2. Know Your Resources

Now that you’re aware of upcoming events, it’s time to plan for how they will affect your company and what resources you’ll need to get ready. For example, if Christmas is your most busy time, then it likely makes sense to invest in more labour, machinery, and warehouse racking and space now to make sure you’re ready.

3. Know Your Pallets

Your pallets are an essential part of your inventory—if not handled properly, they can cause problems for you later on. Therefore, before the peak season hits, it’s crucial that you know how many pallets you have. It’s not enough to just know how many total pallets you have in your warehouse; you need to know how many are available, when they will expire, and when last year’s pallets were used up.

4. Know Where Pallets Are Going

Pallet usage is another important thing to plan for before high season hits. If your team members are using pallets in different areas, but you aren’t tracking them, you won’t know when it’s time to replace them. Standardising your inventory resources will ensure that everyone is on the same page before high season hits. Again, there are plenty of warehouse racking solutions out there that make this process easy.

5. Know Your Pallet’s Life Cycle

Once you’ve standardised your resources, it’s time to make sure you know when pallets expire and how long they should last during high season. This means tracking the date every single pallet was put into service, so that you have an easy reference for which ones need to be replaced before high season hits.

6. Rotate Your Pallets

Pallets aren’t just for storage. If your warehouse is set up to handle it, you can also use pallet jacks and forklifts to move inventory around according to the flow of business. At RollPallet, we pride ourselves on our wide range of roll containers, cage pallets and so much more available to our customers at Britain’s lowest prices – guaranteed. Our experts are always on hand to help, so don’t hesitate to ask us about your specific needs.

7. Use Pallets to Your Advantage

Inventory isn’t just for storage—you can use pallets in various ways to improve your business, from roll pallets and jumbo roll containers to make it easier to move product around, to shipping on or off-site with reusable boxes or plastic pallets. Portable pallet racks can also be used to save wall space and make more floor space for inventory on the warehouse floor.

8. Don’t Let Pallets Become a Headache

When you know your inventory resources, it’s easier to avoid problems before they start—like pallets that are all jumbled up or expired products that simply cause problems. Likewise, knowing where everything is and which resources are available makes it easier to avoid any last-minute headaches that could derail your business during busy periods.

Sound Preparation is Key

As the old adage goes, fail to prepare; prepare to fail and we’re confident having read this guide, you’ll be in tip-top shape to tackle the silly season with your best foot forward.

You don’t have to spend hours before high season planning for how you’re going to handle pallets – the right pallet plan can do the math for you in just a few minutes. Plus, once the high season hits, you don’t want to be wasting time tracking inventory—you could be spending your time on more important things or even enjoying some well-deserved relaxation around that busy time of year!

For everything you need to plan for before the busy period hits, talk to our friendly sales team here at RollPallet UK today!