Navigating Short-Notice Challenges: Effective Re-Planning Strategies for Warehouse Operations
The following table shows how several issues may be addressed so that requirements changed at short notice can be managed.
| Example Issue/Short-notice Requirement Change | Response |
| Late delivery | Reschedule the workforce. If notice of the delay is late, then commit excess labour to backlog tasks, housekeeping, or other useful but less time-pressured activities. |
| Late collection | Reschedule the workforce so that regular staff (fixed labour) can, as much as possible, cope. If despatch is after normal hours, minimize the number of overtime workers by extra preparation inside normal hours. |
| Staff absence | Load against the availability of staff present. If staff absence severely disrupts scheduling or compromises normal operations, then redeploy staff from less important tasks to perform more necessary work. Incentivize extra work through overtime, and if possible, bring in day labour when the workload cannot be borne by regular available staff. It may also be possible to request assistance from non-warehouse staff, if workers in other parts of the business are on-site or nearby and have received appropriate training. |
| Fire or security incident | Follow established emergency protocols, regardless of circumstances. Factor any significant delay into subsequent day planning and staffing schedules. Consider also rescheduling deliveries and reorganising shift patterns. |
| Failure of handling equipment | Ideally, have a redundancy system in place. That is, have extra machines maintained and ready for use in the event of the usual machines failing. If no redundancy system is possible, then failed equipment must be diagnosed and repaired either by staff present or by the company from whom the equipment is leased, or by the company who has the contract for maintenance and repair. For this reason, when selecting equipment suppliers or maintenance firms, the physical proximity of that company to the site of usage (the warehouse) must be considered. |
| Incorrect order | Recount and check items expected against items received. Inspect the packaging for unexpected or new unitization. Ask the shipper to confirm the quantity and the composition of the order dispatched. Compare this information against any available information concerning the order that was expected. |