Autumn is in full swing, which means pumpkin picking, kids getting ready for Halloween, and parents getting ready for the holidays. It also means, as the family motto of House Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones tells us, “winter is coming.” For 3PL warehouse companies like Kanban Logistics, these seasonal changes are a time to review operations to ensure our facilities run smoothly throughout the coldest months of the year.
Following are a few of the things we do to prepare for the coming cold weather.
Fall cleanup and pest control
When you think of autumn, you likely think of leaves and other debris that threaten to ‘dirty up’ equipment and facility areas that have been pristine up until this point of the year. So, as the leaves continue to fall, and dirt and debris try to encroach upon our facilities, we dedicate resources to cleaning our grounds and equipment on an even-more-frequent basis to stay ahead of it.
We also keep ahead of the pests that like to make themselves known this time of year after the crops are harvested. This entails checking and reinstalling our pest traps as well as eliminating any nests or other tell-tale signs of area critters. This is definitely an area where you want to be proactive and not reactive.
Maintenance of climate control equipment and technology
With our climate-controlled warehousing services, we manage the temperature and humidity of our facilities to meet specific product requirements as well as industry-specific regulations dictated by Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), Hazard Analysis and Risk-based Preventive Controls (HARPC) and Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) standards. Through temperature mapping and other processes, we ensure the uniformity of different climates across different sections of our warehouses
Our climate-controlled areas are monitored 24/7/365 by us as well as an external company, simultaneously. We also undergo routine audits and perform regular maintenance of our equipment and technology. This maintenance isn’t necessarily more intensive at this time of year, but it is different in that we’re preparing to keep our climates secure in the face of much colder weather, instead of the heat and humidity that we experience for much of the year in North Carolina.
Testing of backup generators
Like everyone, 3PL warehouse companies are very dependent on electricity. The colder weather – and the storms that can accompany it – have a funny way of trying to take that electricity away. We prepare by testing our generators, servicing them if necessary, and making sure they are in good working order just in case Old Man Winter should try to disrupt our normal operations.
Maintenance of sprinkler systems
In addition to electricity, nasty cold spells can also disrupt a warehouse’s sprinkler systems. Our seasonal operations checklist includes a variety of measures to ensure that this doesn’t happen. This includes the maintenance of pipe insulation for our dry systems, as well as our electronic monitoring equipment for wet systems.
When you think of 3PL warehouse companies, you likely think of the big things like…well, warehousing and distribution. And, you should, because that is primarily what we do. What you should also understand, however, is that behind all the big logistics operations there are the little details that the best 3PLs sweat over day in and day out. As an ISO:9001:2015-certified provider, Kanban prides itself on being one of those 3PLs. If you’d like to learn more about we can sweat the small (and big) stuff for your supply chain all year long, contact us today.