BLACK Friday, which is scheduled to take place in South Africa on 29 November this year – can be chaotic for warehouses, with skyrocketing demand adding intensified pressure and logistical challenges that put the sector to the test.
This is according to Cquential Warehouse Management, a member of the Argility Technology Group, the specialist retail predictive and prescriptive analytics organisation within global enterprise, Smollan.
“Black Friday challenges include increased volumes, a spike in demand and all governed by strict completion timelines. Added to this are the difficulties around managing inventories, lack of availability of additional labour and the inevitability of returns. Moreover, throughout this process, quality control and accuracy must be maintained,” says Rina Redelinghuys, Cquential customer services executive.
She says managing employee morale and fatigue can be difficult amid staff frustration with limitations of existing systems and uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness of operational processes, infrastructure and technology.
“These issues can be addressed through real-time data analytics that yield insights, reporting that enhances visibility and automated tracking of KPIs. Only in this way can operations be optimised,” says Redelinghuys.
Cquential Warehouse Management System (WMS) can proactively manage these challenges through:
- Real-time stock level and demand monitoring.
- Automated inventory tracking and reporting.
- Dynamic labour and resource allocation.
Redelinghuys confirms Cquential WMS is also scalable to handle increased volumes. “The system automatically manages tight deadlines to ensure on-time completion through automated scheduling and task assignment, plus real-time monitoring of deadlines and order status. Visibility of the combination of task prioritisation according to deadlines and urgency assist to guarantee timely completion.
Cquential WMS streamlines inventory management by offering real-time tracking, reporting and automated stock replenishment. It also optimises labour management by automating resource allocation, monitoring workload and performance in real-time and enabling seamless task assignment and scheduling.
Returns processing is simplified through automation and inventory tracking augmented by integration with support systems. Real-time validations of inventory and order tracking ensure top-tier quality assurance. Detailed reporting provides further insights and accuracy.
“Challenges around securing sufficient shipping and courier capacity also adds fuel to the Black Friday stress fire,” Redelinghuys notes.
“Automated shipping and courier integration with transport management systems plus allocation of shipping resources based on demand, solves this problem.
“At the end of the day, peak season chaos should not be a barrier to efficient warehouse operations. Cquential WMS can remove this stress by empowering a business to reap the benefits of Black Friday,” Redelinghuys concludes.
