As Omicron spreads through NZ, we expect significant impact throughout the supply chain and within retail and hospitality networks we service. Hancocks has been planning for Omicron and as NZ moves into Stage 2 of the Government Omicron Plan, we are pleased to have the following initiatives in place to help mitigate the disruption:
EXEMPTION
TRACKING
TESTING (RAT's)
SHIFTS
LESS OFTEN
ON HAND
Hancocks Service Level Changes:
With our combined shifts, we have the capacity to meet expected daily weekly orders. To assist in managing the high Mon/Tue volumes and Omicron disruptions to our staff and freight partners, from Mon 21 February we will increase our lead times by 2 WORKING DAYS.
- We will pick and dispatch orders as close to normal timing as possible, so some orders may arrive earlier than the additional 2 working day lead time.
- We will endeavour to send timely notifications to customers via Our Courier and Carrier (i.e. for Mainfreight and Post Haste) to let you know when orders have been picked, collected and loaded from the freight partner's depot
- We strongly recommend you accept all deliveries during this Omicron period (early or late) as re-delivery at later dates may take time as the freight network comes under more pressure.
- We currently have 15% of our Auckland Operations team away from work due to the Current Omicron Outbreak in Auckland.
We have already received a notice from two of the major freight companies asking us to flag to customers that due to Omicron cases they may experience delays of 1 to 2 days in their delivery time. We expect this to expand across all freight companies as Omicron spreads to its peak in Mar/Apr.
Improving information from our freight partners has been a key focus. As freight companies come under more staffing pressure from Omicron, some of the information flows will be impacted. We are seeking to automate as much as possible to avoid information disruptions.
From next week, orders collected and delivered by Mainfreight will generate automatic e-mails when the goods are collected from our warehouse, as well as when they are placed on a truck for delivery from Mainfreights depot.
Please e-mail our Customer Service team if you do not receive these e-mails. It may be that your e-mail address needs updating in our system.
How Can YOU Secure Your Stock?
As we all face the spread of Omicron, we encourage you to:- Start building your stock levels of key ranges (i.e. "stock-up orders").
- Place "stock-up orders" later in the week on Wednesday or Thursday to avoid normal busy days on Monday & Tuesday.
- Spread "stock-up orders" over the next 2 to 3 weeks.
- Order full pallets or layers of key lines wherever possible.
- Please accept all deliveries when they arrive, even if not ideal timing as redelivery may take some time, resulting in unnecessary out of stocks.