The Logistics of S. Claus, Inc.

Is there any supply chain in the world as large and complex as the one headed up by Santa Claus? In the midst of the holidays many of us eagerly await the arrival of Saint Nick and the goodies he promises, but what exactly goes into a successful Christmas Season?

• Just over 25% of the world’s population are children (0-14), which equals roughly 1.9 billion children across the globe.
•  About 31% of children are raised in Christian families, which means nearly 600 million kids are expecting to see a surprise under their Christmas tree every year. We will assume all are on the “Nice” list.
• If the average gift received per child is 2 pounds, Santa has to ship 600,000 tons of presents across the world.
• If Santa would consider using human help, he would need approximately 30,000 trucks or 17,000 airplanes.
• Speedy delivery is non-negotiable. Santa’s sleigh would need to travel at 650 miles per second to deliver gifts to approximately 1.6 billion homes in 31 hours (accounting for time zones).
• All this happens in one mega multi-stop sleighload. We won’t even consider HOS (I think buried in the rules is an exemption for Mr. Kringle) or refueling of his reindeer.
• Assuming 9 reindeer can pull the sleigh, each reindeer would need to produce the energy equivalent of 50,000 jet engines. 

Father Christmas has nearly a year to develop his transportation strategy for the upcoming season. Some considerations:

• What is the desired end state? Happy Children. 
• Has the customer demand profile changed, and how? Bicycles, baby dolls, or xBoxes.
• Are there emerging geographies to plan? Demographics shift constantly. 
• Does his existing technology and associated process allow him to achieve the organizational goals for the year? If not, what are his options? Should he upgrade or replace?

Then comes execution of the strategy. Though he is hundreds of years old, Santa is quite progressive in use of technology. 

He has to have implemented a leading ERP application. But suppose his Transportation Management System (TMS) is not up to jolly standards. He needs options and he needs help.

An operation of this scale likely requires a trusted partner (elves are a bit lacking in supply chain and IT skills) who is willing to work at the North Pole or adjust virtual schedules. That partner is going to help implement the right solution and ensure it meets his specific needs. Failure is not an option.

The big night comes and the teams need to be sure they have anticipated requirements to ensure success. These may include:

• Are all delivery points known and loaded with correct address information? 
• Do they have adequate processes in place to meet expected, and last minute, demand? 
• Have they right-sized their fleet (okay, that one’s kind of a given)? 
• Do they have visibility of these precious packages from departure to final delivery? 
• What is the returns policy?  
• And of course, 100% OTIF is a given.
  

After some time to recover from this epic event, Santa does not just sit on his hands waiting for the process to begin again in a year. The progressive thinker he is and has kept him in business so long evaluates his performance and looks for ways to improve. 

• Should he consider outsourcing some of his operations?
• Would pool points or forward inventory depots improve service?
• Should he regionalize fleet operations?
• Can his route be better optimized to reduce total miles?
• How else can he use the tools at my disposal to maximize the customer experience?

You see, Santa is a progressive logistics leader. He plans. He recognizes the power of technology and strives to improve every day, every year. He leads by example. He seeks advice from experts.

Now, if we could figure out how he also makes so many personal appearances during peak season….

About JBF Consulting

Since 2003, we’ve been helping shippers of all sizes and across many industries select, implement and squeeze as much value as possible out of their logistics systems. We speak your language — not consultant-speak – and we get to know you. Our leadership team has over 100 years of logistics and TMS implementation experience. Because we operate in a niche — we’re not all things to all people — our team members have a very specialized skill set: logistics operations experience + transportation technology + communication and problem-solving skills + a bunch of other cool stuff. 

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