How to deliver a successful peak

The challenge of delivering a successful peak period has increased significantly over recent years due to continued growth in e-commerce and the advent of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. To get more insight into this we spoke to Scott Laird, Network Operations Director at UK Mail, and Scott Craig, Regional General Manager at iForce, to get their perspective on peak planning from both a fulfilment and last mile delivery perspective.

Planning ahead

Both Laird and Craig were keen to point out that planning starts as soon as the previous peak has ended and Laird stated, “My team starts in mid-January with a full review of exactly what went well and where we see opportunity for improvement in the peak we have just exited. Taking an open, honest, even critical view of previous performance, is a logical starting point and it’s always best to perform these reviews while things are fresh in the mind. This allows us to ensure we continue to get better and provide the consistency expected”.
Craig outlined the process that takes place throughout the year, “Actions from January learning review sessions are prioritised and worked on during March to August to ensure maximum benefit all year round. Individual client peak project plans are built in June each year and regular planning sessions held at site and with our clients to track progress”.

Key challenges

The challenges associated with a number of businesses attempting to access agency labour at the same time were predicted to be a key challenge for peak 2017. “Agency colleague supply is our main focus for peak 2017 with the uncertainty created around Brexit. Focus will be on ensuring that our agency providers understand our labour ramp up plans and that in partnership we work on initiatives to ensure we select engaged colleagues and once they are with us and trained, that they enjoy working for us and are retained across the season,” said Craig. Utilising temporary management, as well as labour, was another tool iForce use to deliver a successful peak. “We use interim managers in some of our sites to support our peak volumes. This process works best if a retainer bonus is put in place to ensure that interim managers are motivated to complete the assignment in what is our busiest and most challenging period of the year”.

Information access

Laird and Craig agree that access to information was the single biggest factor to delivering a successful peak and Laird said, “The single biggest critical success factor is information. The more detail we have about the requirement the more robust plans can be and so we have developed a much more joined up approach with customers over recent years”. Craig agreed that information is key and added, “Engaging with the client as early as possible to understand their volume forecast by work channel and any other specific unique peak work expected. The clearer this information is the better the planning process to support it will be”. Craig was also keen to point out the value of the planning process. “It is all in the planning. Work closely with the client and understand their specific peak challenges clearly. Build in contingency to equipment and labour requirements. Make peak fun for the team”.

Key points

  • Can the lessons learnt from previous years be documented and incorporated into planning for peak 2017?  
  • Both from an operative and management perspective, are you working closely with the suppliers of agency labour so that they have a full grasp of your temporary labour hiring plans and therefore be in a prime position to deliver for you? 
  • Are you working with specialist management recruiters to supply the best available interim managers to bolster your management team? 
  • Do you have access to enough information from an end user perspective that can support your planning process and give you confidence that your plans are robust?
If you would like to discuss any interim or permanent management requirements to support your business over peak then please contact Ben Lyons.
M: +447919575734