Transport networks can be fraught at the best of time but with Christmas fast approaching, ensuring that supplies, deliveries and other commitments are fulfilled will become an essential survival tactic for businesses up and down the country over the Christmas period.
Whether businesses are in the retail sector at the front line or delivering wholesale goods and services to those servicing customers, ensuring that ‘business as usual’ doesn’t suffer at a time when there is increased demand (and potential for delay) than any other time of year.
For fleet managers at the helm where co-ordination of drivers or logistics networks is concerned – ensuring that the flow remains uninterrupted is vital as we reach a time that represents make or break for many businesses where customer service is concerned.
This transport agility is an important element of success over Christmas. For example, store managers, need to ensure that they have the right systems in place to replenish stock quickly and efficiently. While it is their job to ensure that the warehouse and storage related facilities can deliver this, the transport network that sits in between warehouse and store is a deal breaker the right level of effort here ensures that store managers’ systems can work at full capacity. Similarly, for any businesses with commitments that involve fleets, the way in which they are managed – especially at this time of the year – can make all the difference.
Better guaranteeing fleet agility requires careful planning, co-ordination and the ability to think laterally. However, using telematics to enhance the forethought and planning around Christmas contingencies that needs to take place now if December is to be a successful period. The safety elements of the technology, as well as the visibility and added efficiency that can be gained from it by fleet managers, are all crucial to ensuring driver welfare – as well as better service delivery – remain prioritised at a time when it’s easy for them to slip because of other priorities.
Naturally, winning the Christmas logistics game is down to a combination of capabilities and focuses that need to come together to collectively drive success. However, remembering the usefulness of key tools and processes that aid the process and even better guarantee the outcome, is highly advisable.
Chris McClellan, RAM Tracking
