The Suez Surge: Is Your Warehouse Ready?

The blockage in the Suez has caused $10 billion worth of damage, every single day for the past 10 or so days. Over 500 cargo ships at either end of the famous canal, have been waiting to get passed. This has meant that millions of tons of cargo have not yet embarked from their cargo ships. Warehouses around the world are somewhat unprepared for this temporary but very real shock. There will be a surge– of activity, storage, stock injection and inventory piling up, now that 12% of the world’s shipping has been set free. This is something that we have explored for you and recommend some actions of preparation.

The additional strain

Regarding warehouse storage, there will be additional strain put on your racks. This could lead to tension excess, and cause the racks to bend. Using a level gauge can help you to know when you are overloading your racks when the inventory comes rushing in. place the level gauge on the rack or underneath it, and it will show you when it is leaning one way or the other. This can prevent massive accidents that can cause you to lose a lot of stock as well as hurting employees. The gauge should be inspected every day, so you know how the racks are fairing as they are being loaded, unloaded, etc.

Quick-loading trucks

How do you stop the surge of freight from overwhelming your warehouse? You get the inventory out as soon as you can! This means that customers orders that were backlogged, should be organized, loaded and sent out sooner than normal. However, this requires quick-loading which requires that you have a line of trucks lined up outside the loading bay. This is rarely going to happen unless you have a large fleet. If you don’t, you can still perform quick-loading. Just bundle up each palate that is going to be sent out and start creating the large delivery that will be loaded. As you can tell, it will create a line of loads that can be loaded and sent out, in a matter of minutes. Instead of loading one truck, you can load multiple trucks at the same time.

Re-routing and warehouse hiring

It’s important to admit defeat before the defeat actually occurs, sometimes in business. So if you know your warehouse capacity will be maxed out and you cannot take any more inventory, then you need a contingency plan. You can reroute to another warehouse you won, even if it’s in another state, city or region. This will mean some items will either need to be delivered quickly when they are ordered, or they will need to be given extra time for delivery upon ordering. However, you can also hire more warehouses in the local area if you feel you cannot cope. You always have this option, as short-term warehouse leasing is increasingly becoming popular.

The surge in the Suez has begun. Hundreds of massive cargo ships carrying tens of thousands of containers are coming to the ports to be unloaded. Your warehouse may become overwhelmed if you don’t prepare for the surge!