Peak season exposes weak points that are easier to manage when order volumes are lower. A pick face that only occasionally runs empty at normal volumes can cause recurring delays once order volumes rise. A dispatch bay that usually copes can start filling faster than vehicles leave. In food and beverage warehouses, short shelf lives and retailer collection times add another layer of pressure.
This guide is for UK warehouse managers and operations leads who want to prepare the team before adding headcount. A warehouse management system forms part of that plan in some operations, but the work starts with the floor itself. The aim is to know where time is being lost, change the flow before demand rises and test changes before peak begins.
Map Where Peak Work Slows Down
Start with the last busy period. Pull together mis-picks, late collections, stock discrepancies, replenishment delays and any orders that missed their dispatch window. Then walk the floor with supervisors and experienced operatives to see where the records match what people remember happening.
Rank the problems by how often they affect orders. A delay that costs one minute on a high-volume line deserves attention before a five-minute problem that appears once a week. By the end of this step, the team should have three or four named constraints rather than a general sense that the warehouse feels busy.
If stock movements and floor tasks are spread across paper, spreadsheets and separate records, Balloon One provides WMS software for food and beverage operations that need closer control over receiving, picking, packing and dispatch. That option is worth assessing when the audit shows that people are spending peak hours updating separate records or working around gaps in the current set-up.
Move Fast-Moving Stock Closer to the Work
Use recent peak order history to identify the products likely to account for the highest number of picks. Move those lines into pick faces that reduce walking and keep the route to packing or dispatch clear. Chilled, frozen and ambient products still have different handling requirements, so a shorter route should not create a storage problem elsewhere.
Check whether warehouse systems allow locations to be changed without creating confusion in replenishment or picking. If location changes rely on manual updates, complete them early enough for the team to work with the new layout before volumes rise.
Before moving on, confirm that operatives know where peak lines sit, replenishment teams know which pick faces will empty fastest and the new layout has been tested during a normal working day.
Set Replenishment Rules Before Pick Faces Run Empty
Picking can slow when stock replenishment does not keep popular lines available at the pick face. Use sales history, supplier lead times and expected promotions to decide which products are likely to need more frequent replenishment, then set minimum levels that give the replenishment team time to act.
Where a WMS records stock and order data at location level, managers have a clearer view of which pick faces need attention before pickers reach an empty location. Balloon One’s Advanced Replenishment module uses sales patterns and lead times to predict what will be needed, while Directed Put Away assigns incoming stock to locations based on movement and picking needs.
Do not fill every forward-pick location with extra stock because peak is approaching. Slow-moving items can take up space needed by lines that will be picked repeatedly. The check at the end of this step is whether high-demand pick faces stay supplied without forcing excess stock into the most useful locations.
Structure Picking and Packing Around Collection Times
Review how orders are released to the floor. If every order enters the same queue, the busiest hours may create a surge that reaches packing and dispatch all at once. Grouping work into picking waves based on order volume, collection times and the people available gives supervisors a clearer way to spread work across the day.
Balloon One builds its warehouse management solution on Infios Warehouse Management (WM), while its Planning module looks at incoming orders, warehouse capacity and available workers to suggest how picking waves could be structured.
Packing deserves the same attention. Scan verification is useful when the packing area is handling higher order volumes, and Balloon One’s Packing module walks packers through each step. The aim is to keep picking moving at a pace the packing area can absorb, without creating a queue or more corrections later.
Tighten Goods-In and Date Control
Peak preparation often focuses on outbound orders, but goods-in can create the first queue of the day. Agree delivery windows with suppliers, check which days are likely to carry the heaviest intake and keep receiving space clear enough for stock to be checked before it reaches storage.
For food and beverage stock, capture batch codes and date information when goods arrive. If use-by dates are added later from paperwork, higher intake volumes can leave more room for a missed entry. First expiry, first out rules also depend on date information being attached to the right stock before picking begins.
Ask suppliers what data they send with deliveries and confirm that the warehouse team knows how that data enters the system. This step is complete when a pallet moves from receiving to its assigned location without someone having to reconstruct batch or date details afterwards.
Prepare the Existing Team for Peak Exceptions
Do not spend the pre-peak briefing repeating tasks people already know. Focus on what changes when volume rises. Cover revised pick locations, replenishment priorities, damaged stock, missing items, blocked bays and who makes the call when an order is at risk of missing collection.
Give supervisors a clear way to reassign employees between receiving, replenishment, picking, packing and dispatch, but only when they are trained for the task. The aim is not to keep every person in the same task all day. It is to make sure employees know which work takes priority and who authorises a change in task.
System data only helps when the operating rules are clear enough for people to act on what they see. Use the peak set-up during training, rather than screenshots or processes that will change once the busy period starts. By the end of the briefing, every operative should know who to contact and what to do when an exception stops the normal flow.
Run a Peak Test Before Demand Rises
Run a controlled test well before the expected peak, leaving enough time to adjust the set-up and repeat the exercise if needed. Use a representative batch of orders and watch receiving, replenishment, picking, packing and dispatch rather than judging the test from total orders alone.
Record orders picked per hour, mis-picks, empty pick faces, packing queues and vehicle loading times. Check loading areas separately to confirm that vehicles and people still have enough space to move safely as activity rises. Then compare those observations with the constraints identified in the first step. If a change moved the queue from picking to packing, it has not solved the whole problem.
Use the test to adjust locations, replenishment levels, picking waves and task ownership while there is still time to repeat the exercise. Before peak begins, the team should have tested the revised flow and agreed what to do if order volumes exceed the forecast.
Plan Peak Capacity Before Volume Arrives
Preparing for peak without adding headcount depends on removing avoidable work before the busy period begins. Shorter pick routes, earlier replenishment, controlled goods-in, clearer picking waves and a tested response to exceptions give the existing team a better chance of handling higher order volumes.
Some warehouses will still need extra labour when demand exceeds what the existing team and site can handle. Before recruiting, check whether the warehouse has already removed the avoidable delays identified during preparation.
Balloon One can discuss where Infios WM fits into peak preparation for food and beverage operations, from replenishment and picking to packing and dispatch. That gives warehouse managers a way to judge whether the current set-up gives the team enough control before the next busy period begins.
