Peak planning connects forecasts, inventory timing, projects, staffing inputs, carrier requirements, cutoffs, and fallback decisions.
Use this guide to structure discovery and compare proposed operating terms. Actual product, workflow, system, capacity, facility, carrier, pricing, and service compatibility must be confirmed for your program.
Turn the forecast into operating inputs
Provide expected orders by day or week, units and picks per order, promotions, new SKUs, subscription releases, retail windows, inbound arrivals, packaging needs, and destination mix. A monthly growth percentage is rarely enough for capacity planning.
Agree on change and fallback rules
Define forecast updates, inventory deadlines, order cutoffs, service priorities, project freezes, carrier constraints, escalation contacts, and what happens when actual demand or supply differs from plan.
Questions to bring into discovery
- Order, unit, pick, channel, and destination forecast
- Inventory, component, packaging, and inbound readiness
- Promotions, projects, retail windows, and launch calendar
- Capacity confirmation, change control, cutoffs, and fallback plan
Capacity should be confirmed against a specific peak plan. Avoid treating general statements about scalability as a commitment to an unshared forecast.
Decision takeaway
Turn the questions into a fulfillment fit review.
Share your products, volume, inventory, channels, systems, packaging, shipping, and returns requirements. We’ll use the details to discuss scope—not make assumptions.