Disaster can strike quickly, and often without much notice. You’ll no doubt have a detailed risk assessment plan for your warehouse that seeks to prevent hazards, minimise risks and keep your employees, stock and building safe. Unfortunately, even in this day and age, things can still go wrong. So far in 2017 we’ve seen both Yodel (Arrow XL) and ASOS suffer warehouse fires subsequently impacting on stock and performance, though thankfully not leading to any employee injuries.
As companies become ever more global, and businesses look to outsource much of their supply chain, a single fire can cause unprecedented disruption and a sudden loss of revenue. A 2015 Annual Fire and Risk Barometer Survey by Allianz ranks fire as the 3rd most concerning risk to businesses worldwide, and their analysis of 11,000 incidents between 2009 and 2013 shows fire as second in terms of value of the loss.
Many facilities have effective sprinkler systems installed to protect products from fire damage, however if deployed or if they develop a fault, water damage can result and again you’re left with terminal stock. Add to this, the increased complexity of automation in warehouses; a trend growing quickly in the UK which will add heat and power risks, meaning that the need for a cost effective, reliable external storage facility really starts to come into its own
With the disaster at ASOS’s Barnsley site eradicating over 20% of the sites stock, it is now ever more evident that holding stock in a centralised location could spell trouble if disaster strikes. John Manners-Bell, CEO of Transport Intelligence believes that:
“this further disaster demonstrates the systemic fragility of many global supply chains and perhaps suggests that it would be sensible to spread risk over a number of locations, despite an increase in internal supply chain costs.”
By placing stock with a third party, especially one able to help you manage product in line with your own stock policies, you can provide a really effective solution that helps you guarantee service and deliver on your customer promises.
Furthermore, finding a warehouse contingency partner able to receive and process orders on your behalf until you have your warehouse operational again takes this risk management plan onto a different level, and can free you up to concentrate on getting your operation back to normal. An effective contingency plan can make or break a business, and being able to respond quickly to disruption is of the utmost importance.
Due to our flexible network, and the speed of our service, Bis Henderson Space can assist you in finding an alternative location within days with limited disruption to your service. Talk to Bis Henderson Space today about how we may be able to help supplement your risk management planning
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