Capacity for storing goods
Storing capacity is essential in 2023 to ensure a reliable and regular supply of goods. The just-in-time-model may have been convenient pre-pandemic, but today’s retail world needs additional space and a lot of it.
It’s a lot to ask of retailers who are already pushed for space but that is where working with a fulfilment partner with greater capacity becomes invaluable. Their ability to find and stock store for long periods negates a large amount of risk for retailers.
In the UK, there are now 32% more warehouses than in 2015 and a whopping 242% more square feet of space. In 2021, we increased our own warehouse capacity by 40% in the Netherlands.
Location, location, location
The importance of location when choosing a fulfilment partner is paramount. Having access to a network of fulfilment centres, and ones that are located well, is important to help with speed of fulfilment and the quality of your delivery.
Here in the Netherlands, we are considered a critical supply chain link for Europe. Within a 500km radius, we have access to around 300 million consumers, which gives us the ability to deliver quickly and to reach more people.
Having a well-located fulfilment partner also helps to resolve problems with the last mile of delivery – arguably the most important part of your goods’ journey. Problems with deliveries can affect your reputation and costs businesses a lot of wasted money. Partnering with companies who can fulfil easily thanks to their location is a must-have.
Buying power
The supply chain instability that we’ve experienced during the last few years has meant that stock shortages and fluctuating prices have become all too common for buyers and retailers.
And while every retailer has been exploring ways to mitigate these problems, at Worldpack we’ve been taking on that responsibility to support our customers.
With Worldpack being part of Bunzl, our buying power is valuable to our customers to bring confidence and stability in their stock control. Our ability to buy in large quantities at competitive prices and to stock them for customers for several months ensures stable costs for businesses which means one less thing to worry about.
This makes it easier for buyers and retailers to plan and forecast effectively, with no hidden surprises lurking round the corner.
As this Financial Times article emphasises, companies have moved from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case’ – and at Worldpack, we’re here to mirror that move to bring you stability and certainty during times of change.
Warehouse organisation
It doesn’t matter how much space you have, if it’s not run as efficiently and organised as possible then it won’t work.
Optimisation in the warehouse is an important feature of your fulfilment partner. Along with our increased warehouse space, we’ve increased the number of pick locations and our picking processes to ensure speed of dispatch. We’ve also employed more people to enable us to meet the growing demand we’re experiencing.
Examining how we make our journeys through the warehouse is important too – larger carts to enable us to make fewer journeys and automating processes where we can, allows us to bring synchronicity and a sustainability focus to our warehouse operations too.
Speak to our team to see how we can bring some love back to your supply chain. Call us on +31 (0) 88 494 20 80 or email us at online@worldpack.eu
