Will Workforce Shortages cause Peak Season Chaos
1st November 2024
Workforce shortages are affecting three quarters of logistics companies. With peak season fast approaching, what steps are being taken to avoid customer disappointment asks Andrew Tavener (pictured), Head of Marketing, Descartes?
Peak Performance
Supply chain performance is being undermined by an endemic lack of staff – with 37% of companies experiencing high workforce shortages. The biggest problems are in transportation operations, closely followed by warehouse operations, and the impacts are being felt throughout the supply chain, from financial performance to customer service.
Staff shortages cause pressures throughout the year, but the problems are highlighted during peak season. Black Friday only works as a great opportunity to offload discounted stock, for example, if the fulfilment process is super-efficient. Any problems, from inaccurate picking to product damage or delivery errors, will rapidly wipe out any margin on a discounted item. The success of the Christmas buying frenzy depends, obviously, on customers receiving goods before 25th December – missed or late deliveries will lead to a massive spike in new year returns, refunds and product write-offs.
Add in the potential loss of customers following bad experiences and inefficient fulfilment can wipe out the vital revenue boost retailers demand from peak season.
Avoiding Mistakes
Stressed people inevitably make mistakes – and understaffed warehouses and delivery teams are often under pressure, especially when demand spikes. With no signs of the workforce shortages abating, how are companies looking to improve fulfilment and deliver an optimal peak season customer experience?
Scaling up to meet additional demand is becoming harder year in year due to the lack of available staff and so automation has become a priority – 58% of firms say senior management believe technology is key to mitigating the impact of the current workforce market. By prioritising both driver performance and warehouse operations, companies are looking to eradicate the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that deliver little added value and put enormous pressure on staff during peak seasons.
Improving driver productivity has an immediate impact on delivery capacity and, as a result, customer experience, with companies exploring innovations in areas such as delivery route optimisation (54%) and driver mobile productivity (45%).
Knowledge Workers
Companies are not only struggling to recruit and retain warehouse and delivery staff; in fact, knowledge worker and manager positions are the hardest to fill. With 58% of companies confirming that workforce shortages have impacted customer services, they are turning to automation. Tools such as real-time shipment tracking can release knowledge workers from time wasted chasing information to focus on the analysis and planning required to optimise the business.
Real-time shipment tracking also meets customer expectations for shipment visibility – and, by providing automated updates, a company can eliminate highly manually-intensive calls and emails and release pressure on customer service teams.
Improving automation not only reduces the stress for existing employees – and hence cuts the risk of errors that can damage the customer experience – it can also play a vital role in improving recruitment. Workers are not attracted to tedious, repetitive work and highly manual working environments are a serious deterrent, especially for millennial and Gen Z workers. Investing in workforce skills and providing an automated working environment that allows individuals to embrace added-value tasks enables organisations to improve recruitment and retention, and create a workforce with the capacity to respond effectively to the demands of peak season.
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