How Santa carries out his logistics for Christmas

It is one of the most important times of the year and Santa Claus along with the heads of each department's help prepare well in advance their logistics for Christmas so that all the gifts arrive on time to their homes.

Looking at how demand has grown in recent years, it is no longer enough to manufacture and distribute toys with his sleigh alone. The logistical processes have become increasingly complex and demanding, so Santa Claus has an army of elves and reindeer ready to facilitate such complex logistics management for Christmas.

From raw materials

When Santa Claus has an idea in mind for a new toy, he works with the development department to get the product into production. He makes sure that the elves get the raw materials they need for manufacturing thanks to his good relationships with suppliers.

To fullfill this, the materials travel through a complicated network of logistics from the time they are mined for processing in a factory and so on until they reach the hands of the elves, who make the final product. In addition, their magical staff has a warehouse for all those goods used for the manufacture of toys.

Inventory storage

From raw materials to toys ready to be shipped, all this inventory must be stored in their respective warehouses. There all the items are packed, sorted and well ordered so that they can be easily located in a warehouse as big as Santa's.

Thanks to the latest technological advances, Santa Claus has not hesitated to automate the ordering systems and to optimize the stock databases in order to have total control over the inventory and avoid stock-outs.

Warehouse operating processes

When one of the thousands of warehouses Santa Claus has all over the world orders a certain amount of toys, the elves in charge of the warehouse get down to work. First they check the available stock, locate the order and pack it carefully so that the products are not damaged in transport. For this, a picking optimizer proves to be very helpful in locating the inventory quickly.

Not all toys are packaged in the same way. There are certain products with very fragile parts that require a lot of protection inside the box and instructions for the reindeer to handle them with care.

Distribution transportation

Whether it is to be delivered to its final consumer (last mile) or to reach another distribution point, Santa Claus strategically chooses the transportation to be used, the available weight per vehicle, the assignment of their respective drivers in charge, among other things.

As exports are increasingly in demand, Santa Claus can no longer do it on his own with his sleigh, but must rely on his reindeer handlers to handle one of the most complicated and important operations in Christmas logistics.

Route planning

To ensure that all toys reach their destination as quickly and economically as possible, Santa Claus leaves the planning of routes from the point of departure to their arrival in the hands of his reindeer. In addition, he takes into account many factors such as the required delivery times, the working hours of the carriers, and other aspects. This is where a route optimizer plays a key role.

At the time of transport, a very effective communication is maintained to be aware of possible inconveniences encountered along the way and to let you know if the delivery has been successfully completed. This situation is crucial to ensure the happiness of the future owner of the toy through the logistics for Christmas.

Conclusion

The logistical process that Santa Claus has to carry out before the long-awaited day is extremely large and each year has become more complicated. Fortunately, Santa Claus has been gradually improving operations and has been hiring many more elves and reindeer more specialized in operations and also using new technologies to optimize logistics for Christmas.

At Hedyla we want to take a cue from Santa Claus and also want to optimize operations to take Christmas logistics to the next level.