It’s peak season, almost all hands on deck
Notice I said ‘almost’.
Peak season seems like an odd time to think about next year already. As a supply chain management leader, you’re serving your customers with all the prep work you put in. This is where many firms will make or break their year. It’s all hands on deck to ensure that operations are smooth.
While the warehouse team is sweating and locked in, you are watching scoreboards and have done all you can to ensure a successful season. Typically, you’ll only watch the reports come in or put out an especially egregious fire. But is that the best use of your time?
Planning for the next peak should start before you finish this one.
Delaying supply chain management software decisions is a cost
Wisdom dictates patience in decision-making; “Good things come to those who wait,” right? That’s true for events that can be paused (or slowed) while we decide whether to proceed.
Major technology decisions, on the other hand, have windows of opportunity that supply chain management must consider promptly to generate revenue, apply cost controls, or both.
Large capital expenditures ignite caution and analysis paralysis
While there’s risk in the financial commitment, there’s also fear of making a decision that worsens the business.
While you fret, the core business needs to continue – and grow. You’ll have less space tomorrow if you don’t have enough warehouse space now. If you have a process bottleneck, you’ll just get more behind. Operations problems are notorious for growing compound interest on delayed opportunity costs.
Act now
It can feel good to delay a WMS decision until your peak is over. However, you’ll know two to three weeks into the season where the faults are, how good the supply chain management plan was, and how short you’ll be next year if you don’t act now.
Why are you waiting until January to start prepping for 2025’s peak season? It’ll be here before you know it, and you’ll lament not starting sooner. Or worse, make a hasty decision you regret later.
The “why” is easy… Buying the best WMS software will take the organization to a whole new level of growth through enterprise-grade inventory visibility, modern automation, and strategic order fulfillment.
In business, fortune favors the bold.
Compelling reasons to divide and conquer
Trust that your floor team has your customers covered. Outside of fire drills, the best support you can do is scout out WMS systems for next year.
Wouldn’t it be great to start implementing a solution in March, when volume has subsided, instead of July, when peak restock is starting to arrive?
Here’s why you need to start thinking about your WMS software upgrade NOW.
- Shopping early gives you more time. You aren’t going to get out of due diligence, product demos, consensus building, and requesting funds. So start ASAP. If anything, you’ll have less pressure the more time you give yourself and be more thorough in your selection.
- Peak season for operations is AOP and budgeting time for the rest of the business. Unless you work on a non-standard calendar, this is the time when departments earmark money. If you know what you’ll need and have your math homework done early, you can make the case before budgets are allocated. While many organizations have a process for unplanned expenditures, do you want to risk your upgrade getting slotted for 2026?
- Internal alignment takes time. The head of operations knows supply chain management commands better technology. That doesn’t mean that finance agrees. It doesn’t even mean the site directors agree. Business transformation requires a ton of internal soft-selling before the first RFP goes out. Get your ducks in a row early, or you’ll just be treading water.
- If you delay, you’ll be in prep and freeze again. Scoping, selecting, deploying, testing, and training on any supply chain management system is no turnkey undertaking, especially if you go the monolithic product route. People, processes, and technology must all be in sync. While we’ve launched projects in 55 days, you must consider the additional time from the internal pitch, shopping, and legal to kick off and steady run state.
Where to start your software selection
Schedule a demo that’s tailored to your unique seasonal fulfillment challenges.
If you have a need, don’t leave it unaddressed. You had a need yesterday, you have a more significant need now, and you might have an existential crisis by January. The sooner you start, the better.
Luckily, Deposco makes the process of acquiring and deploying supply chain management software easy. Start the hard work of getting the groundwork done. There’s no time like the present.