As children, we unquestioningly lapped up tales of Santa’s magic workshop. Nothing thrilled us more than thinking of this enchanted place where elves work tirelessly to ensure that, on Christmas Day, millions of children around the world wake up to find brightly wrapped parcels containing the toys and games they wished for just weeks earlier.
Now that we’re a little older and wiser, we know that “magic” isn’t quite enough to explain this annual feat of logistics…
What we do know, however, is that the true magic of Santa’s workshop is his incredibly robust order management system. Don’t get us wrong, there is a certain amount of sorcery involved in perfecting an OMS, but that’s where GSOT comes in.
We know OMS inside out, let us fill you in on Santa’s best kept secret:
Inventory Management:
Considering the millions of product lines and custom requests Old Saint Nick has to process every year, he’s clearly got his stockroom running like a well-oiled reindeer.
Did you know? In order to prepare presents for every child on Earth, Santa’s elves have to build over six million toys every day of the year? Multiply that by 365 and you can see why Santa might benefit from the cheap warehouse rental rates at the North Pole…
Knowing his seasonal trading peaks certainly helps with ensuring he has the elves focussing on the right products – imagine the uproar if the most popular toy went out of stock before all the children’s gifts have been delivered! It’s all down to smart inventory management, read more on this.
Supply Chain Management:
Like the rest of us, we can assume that Santa must struggle with supply chain challenges following Brexit and the pandemic. Fortunately for Santa, he knows exactly when his trading peak will occur, which certainly helps him with planning and forecasting!
However, Santa may face challenges including, 1:1 order taking (either at Grottos or via hand-written letters), managing global demand in a very short window of time, ensuring his elves have the expertise to build electronics and complex toys safely, and more!
Find out more about OMS for post-pandemic survival.
Distribution:
Santa’s super-speedy sleigh certainly benefits from OMS. Overseeing the efficient picking, packing, shipping and delivery of global orders is one huge benefit of a robust OMS. Santa has a very tight deadline to work towards, he can’t afford to make any errors with dropping parcels down the wrong chimney!
He also makes use of logistics systems to ensure that each home is accessible for him, and that he doesn’t overload the sleigh… Why else would he only take one bite out of the mince pies left out for him?
Read more about OMS for overseas orders, or how we helped build a streamlined interface for our client’s packing and shipping processes.
Customer Experience:
It goes without saying that Santa has CX pretty down pat, if only more retailers had ordering processes as simple as posting a letter filled with your wildest hopes and dreams, then receiving the order (free of charge!) without even having to open the door!
Santa never lets a child down, and having a stellar quality management system certainly helps with this. His elves inspect output at all stages of manufacture and delivery, and even make sure that Santa’s belly remains under a certain circumference to ensure he doesn’t get lodged in a chimney.
All of this clearly pays off as Santa’s Workshop has never had a bad review! His brand is one of the best known in the world, with billions of happy customers each year. Find out more about OMS for customer experience.
Whilst we know it’s unlikely your business will have to cope with quite the same level of demand that Santa does, OMS can streamline processes for any retailer, leading to happier customers and boosted profits.
Santa does benefit from a little magic, but the real trick is simply leveraging modern technology to simplify complex processes, and it can take just a matter of weeks to get up and running.
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