When orders started pouring in at the onset of the Covid-19 lockdown, many retailers and their logistic providers were caught off guard.
With the rush to get online orders delivered and fulfilled for customers across the country, the media was inundated with accounts of long delays in customers receiving their online orders and even companies running out of stock entirely.
Words like “unprecedented” and “difficult” have become over-used in recent years. With the rush to get more and more online orders fulfilled, it’s easy to see how some businesses have been put under pressure especially in areas where space is limited.
Fortunately, there are steps that can be taken to achieve a balance of safety and efficiency, which will help contract packing companies not just now, but also in the future.
Your Contract Packing Operation
Before you do anything else, take a minute to review each stage of your process. Where are the snags? How effective are your packaging materials in terms of efficiency? Is there enough room for packers to work while keeping social distance?
The more people are pushed to move around, the more difficult it is for them to maintain social distance, depending on the setup.
Machinery and Safety
One of the most successful ways to strike a balance between efficiency and safety is to use machinery. Machinery will keep things going when your team isn’t at full strength, whether due to sickness, leave, or the fact that social distancing means you don’t have enough space to accommodate everyone.
Safety for Employees
For the past two years, keeping employees safe has been the top responsibility for every company. You may already have certain safeguards in place, such as social distance, sanitisation, and personal protective equipment (PPE), but assess whether they need to be fine-tuned or updated.
Separating work areas with screen barriers is a low-cost and effective technique to keep employees safe, especially in operations with limited space. These can be made out of a variety of materials, including foam PVC and Correx, and are ideal for making temporary but robust constructions.
Keeping shared equipment clean, such as computers, keyboards, screens, and switches, can be a real pain. Applying an easy-to-remove protective barrier film to assist avoid contamination between users is a good idea.
Excel is an Experienced UK Contract Packer
We’ve been fulfilling contract packing orders for businesses for years and know how to operate safely whilst maintaining efficiency when it comes to UK contract packing. Get in touch with us to discuss how we can help fulfil your contract packing requirements.
