Handling Seasonal Inventory with Extra Storage Containers and Temporary Office Space

If you live in North Dakota or Minnesota like us, your winter weather gear is out and the snow is starting to fly. For those of us in working in supply chain industries like trucking and warehousing, this means it’s seasonal inventory time — a time of year that stresses the capacity of both your warehouse and your staff.

Of course, the surge in demand hits the retail and grocery industries especially hard. Heavy-hitters in retail, like Walmart and Target, use temporary storage to handle the volume of inventory. Craft stores, grocers, and specialty stores like Bakers Square also need extra storage for their influx of holiday goods.

“These same retailers used to rent semi-trailers, but without adequate dock space, their associates had to climb in and out of trailers and that is simply too dangerous and risky,” said Nick Papke, Sales Director at Citi-Cargo & Storage in Minneapolis. It’s especially important in a climate like the one Citi-Cargo serves. Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Fargo/Moorhead are known for harsh temperatures.

Retailers need a solution that can keep their goods — and their staff — safe and secure. The answer? On-site, ground-level storage containers.

“The emergence of containers took large retailers’ workmen’s comp claims down to virtually zero,” Papke said. More than that, they keep inventory safe and secure, offering easy loading and unloading features like double-end and side-opening doors.

If you are in the supply chain business, you’ve likely been planning for a big increase in your inventory supply, as well as hiring seasonal staff and coordinating shifts. Here are three ways you can make sure you have enough space when and where you need it.

1. Get on-site mobile temporary storage containers — from the right vendor.

Determine how much space you think you’ll need and find a vendor that can meet your needs. Make sure the vendor you choose is reliable, commits to on-time delivery and can help you out if you need more or less storage than you anticipate, even on short notice.

Citi-Cargo can offer on-time storage container delivery in Minnesota and the Fargo/Moorhead area. Let us give you a quote for temporary storage, and know that if your needs change, we can help.

2. Use storage containers for temporary office space.

Seasonal fluctuations often mean additional staff and possibly moving shifts around to make sure you’ve got the people you need when you need them. Temporary offices are a great solution for temperature-controlled, ready-made, mobile office space to house your seasonal office workers. Make sure your vendor has features for security, like outdoor flood lighting and lock boxes, and adequate electricity and climate control. See the features of Citi-Cargo’s temporary offices.

3. Re-think inventory organization

The demands of the supply chain peak means it’s time to get creative with how you use your space. With some careful planning and out-of-the-box thinking, you’d be surprised at how you can improve the utilization of your space. Maybe when you move some warehousing inventory to a mobile storage container, you can then utilize some of the aisles for packing and processing. Take a close look at your system and see where you can make improvements. Call us to talk about custom organization solutions for temporary storage. If you need a warehousing or 3PL solution, we do that too.

These tips can help relieve some of the warehousing capacity issues that come with seasonal inventory. One of the most important things to remember is to partner with a storage and warehousing vendor that knows the ins and outs of the supply chain industry, and can customize a plan for your specific needs, even if they change on short notice. We pride ourselves on our personalized customer service when it comes to warehousing, shipping and storage containers for our customers. Get a quote today.