Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving Day, is the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. Stores open early, with some opening as soon as the evening of Thanksgiving Day, to accommodate the millions of shoppers who will avail themselves of discounts, BOGO deals, and giveaways.
The term “Black Friday” was first used during the 1960s. It was hoped that the name would generate excitement for holiday shopping and get people out of their homes and into stores where they could spend money and increase retail revenue. “Black” signifies the entry of a business into a profitable season—sometimes after months of lackluster sales. (During the era when people kept paper books, red ink indicated a loss while black ink meant a profit.)
Busy Days
Retailers have their heyday during the holiday season. They extend their business hours and hire extra workers to cover the crush of holiday shoppers. Manufacturers experience their busy days long before the holiday season begins, churning out goods to fill retailers orders. Raw material suppliers hit their peak even earlier, as they have to source the materials needed by manufacturers. The different industries involved in the holiday shopping season get busy long before most of us are even beginning to think about the holidays. The supply chain usually starts revving up during summer, and activity really skyrockets a few months before the holiday rush.
Increased Productivity
Because of the need to dramatically increase production, raw material suppliers, manufacturers, and freight haulers need to be flexible and prepared. Nobody knows exactly how much the retailers are going to order for the holidays, thus support industries must be ready to handle additional production volume and accommodate quick turnarounds.
Businesses that are involved in electronics manufacturing, and those manufacturing companies that rely heavily on electronics in their production setup, will find it difficult to immediately ramp up production. Capital investment in the technological sector is often so huge that companies cannot afford to acquire additional machinery for seasonal use only.
A smart solution is to outsource production to companies that have built-in capability for high-volume production. EMS Solutions in Utah specializes in printed board assemblies with expanded production lines to increase placement and reflow capabilities. We recently added more high-end and state-of-the-art equipment that can produce 18,000 chip per hour placement throughput to our production lines.
When the holiday season comes calling, EMS Solutions is the answer, offering high-volume output in a hurry.