October 20, 2022
Hello all,
Our single focus is bottling and dispatching as much as we can at present; it’s obviously working as we are packing record volumes each week. Good news!
The key things of note at the moment: storage capacity, container loading at Port Nelson and the Christmas dispatch period.
Storage capacity:
These volumes are bringing challenges to all areas of the business, with storage capacity the newest concern. As I write, we have a total of 270 pallet spaces available out of ~57,000 spaces. With around ~1,000 pallets a day coming out of production, this is not a comfortable position to be in. We have secured some further offsite storage options and our team will be in contact should they want to store any of your stock in these sites.
Port Nelson container loading:
This last week we also saw some challenges around container loading at Port Nelson. The Port are working on a number of solutions for both the short and long term. We now have a clear understanding of their capacity for each week, and earlier this week we communicated some alternative options for loading containers bound for Port Nelson. We will keep you up to date on these.
We are hearing that the pressure is coming on all Ports across New Zealand between now and Christmas, so the shipping challenges of the last 2 years is certainly not over yet.
Christmas dispatches:
Amongst this we have also been doing a lot of planning to meet the Christmas dispatch period. As Gregg communicated back in September, one of the key learnings from last year was the complex orders (mixed item picks) was a major factor in the delays experienced. Thus, to maximise dispatch volumes for everyone if we get behind again we will be prioritising orders as follows, with complex orders last;
- Export Orders.
- NZ Distributors and Supermarkets.
- Restaurants and Retail stores.
- Consumers/mail order customers and other simple dispatches (i.e. single stock lines).
- Complex orders: mixed-bottle cases and mixed-case pallet orders.
Please consider if you can eliminate or manage complex picks from your orders to help us get it out the door on time.
I can assure you that all of our team across the business are working hard and fast to try and meet your expectations at the moment. There has been some good wins with recruitment which is also helping, but everyone is looking forward to a well-deserved break for Labour weekend. However, to meet the current demand we will be back and working on Marlborough Anniversary day.
Although – I’m off to Derby Day in Melbourne, so if my horse comes in maybe I wont be working Marlborough Anniversary either….
Damien Gillman
Marlborough General Manager
