3 min read
The trend toward ordering more and more online extends not only to clothing, consumer goods and food, but also to large and bulky items such as furniture or household appliances. Unlike ordinary parcel shipping, the delivery of large-format goods is linked to a fixed delivery date and time window. What means maximum convenience for the customer is associated with some challenges in logistics.
The online furniture market is booming
While sales in the German e-commerce furniture market were still at EUR 5.4 billion in 2017, according to Statista, the pandemic also acted as a catalyst for this segment, causing sales to rise to EUR 7.3 billion as early as 2021. In turn, this corresponds to growth in online customers in this segment from 12.8 million in 2017 to 19.8 million in 2021. And the trend is upwards: according to expert forecasts, around twice as many people in Germany will buy their furniture and household goods online in 2024 as in 2017. That's just the outlook for the e-commerce furniture business - it's reasonable to assume that online shopping trends will develop similarly in the DIY and garden segment, for example.
When the ordered products correspond to the dimensions and weights of a package, the classic logistics processes begin, picking and packing takes place in the warehouse, the package is distributed via a CEP service provider, transported and delivered. But if the ordered products are too big, bulky and heavy and have to be delivered by 2-man handling, it is necessary to start the process chain from the end.
Delivery promise has top priority
Unlike conventional parcel shipping, 2-man handling is based on a fixed delivery promise. The customer agrees on a binding date for the delivery of his new sofa, TV, refrigerator, kitchen or garden shed and, if necessary, books additional services such as assembly and installation services or the removal of packaging waste. He may even take a day off to accept the delivery by two men.
"In this case, all steps must be geared to on-time delivery, not only at the delivering freight forwarders, but also at our METRO LOGISTICS warehouse locations," explains Senior Business Development Manager Karsten Heubach. "Overall, this is a long and highly coordinated logistics process chain that is virtually unforgiving of mistakes. If, for example, a sofa or kitchen leaves the warehouse too late and therefore does not arrive at the delivery depot on time, the time window agreed with the end customer can no longer be adhered to and the sofa or kitchen can't hardly be delivered to the neighbor or be assembled. This would not only affect the shipping company, which would have to take the goods back, but of course also the handling warehouse locations, depots and customer service, which would then have to process the return - and of course also the end customer, who was looking forward to his goods and might be disappointed accordingly. And on top of that, it's often not just bulky and heavy items that are involved, but also valuable and sensitive items that shouldn't be moved around so often. In this respect, all processes in the logistics center are timed depending on the delivery date, which is the top priority," Karsten Heubach continues.
What matters in 2-man handling in the warehouse
The handling of large-volume and heavy goods is not only associated with some challenges during delivery. Warehousing is characterized by the following special features:
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Two men are not only needed in delivery to hand over the heavy and bulky goods to the customer. In the warehouse, too, the handling of large-volume goods requires the appropriate personnel and special loading equipment to carry out goods receipt, storage, order picking and goods issue with two men if necessary.
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In addition, an appropriate area and storage capacity are needed to store and handle large-volume and heavy items. With storage in our multi-user warehouses, we ensure optimal and flexible storage space utilization, both on the shelf, in the corlette or in the block.
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The pick-and-pack process in 2-man handling is not only labor-intensive, but also requires a high degree of sensitivity and quality. The items are often valuable or delicate and are therefore handled with the utmost sensitivity by our trained personnel.
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Since the bulky products often do not have standard dimensions, individual and flexible solutions are essential for order picking as well as packaging.
Further development of 2-man handling
For the future, we expect not only that 2-man handling will become even more important with the online retailing of large and bulky goods, but also that it will adapt even more to customer demands and that the process will be further accelerated. While, in the past, it was common for delivery from the hub to the customer to take around 3-5 days, today 24h services are already offered, and there will certainly be even faster options in the foreseeable future.
More information about our services in 2-man handling: Significant capacity increase for DHL 2-Mann-Handling with a new location in Reichenbach
