Busy seasons expose every gap in supply planning. The team that runs out of printer paper during a peak period, or discovers the tape dispenser is empty when 200 orders need to ship, is a team that didn't plan ahead. Office supply planning before busy seasons is straightforward — it requires knowing what's coming, calculating what's needed, and ordering early enough that supplies arrive before the season does. Here's how to do it.
Step 1: Identify Your Busy Seasons on a Rolling Calendar
Busy seasons are predictable. Review your order history and identify the periods that consistently generate above-average volume: Q4 holiday season, back-to-school, promotional events, fiscal year-end. Mark these periods on a rolling 90-day calendar and work backward to set supply planning trigger dates. Supply planning should begin 3-4 weeks before a busy season starts — enough lead time for orders to arrive, be received, and be stocked before the season's demand begins.
Step 2: Calculate Busy Season Supply Requirements
For each supply category, calculate busy season requirements based on projected volume. Start with your current weekly usage rate and multiply by the busy season volume multiplier (typically 1.5x to 2x for moderate busy seasons, higher for major peaks). Add a 20% buffer for volume that exceeds projections. The result is your busy season supply requirement — the quantity you need on hand at the start of the season, not the quantity you'll order during it.
Step 3: Audit Current Stock Against Requirements
Three to four weeks before the busy season, audit every supply bin against the busy season requirement. The labeled clear bins make current stock levels visible without counting. For each supply category: current stock + incoming orders − projected pre-season consumption = stock at season start. If stock at season start is below the busy season requirement, the gap is the pre-season order quantity.
Step 4: Order in Bulk for High-Volume Supplies
Busy season supply orders are the right time to order in bulk: the 24-roll bulk packing tape, the 320-piece assorted clips, and other high-velocity supplies in case quantities. Bulk orders placed 3-4 weeks before the season arrive at standard shipping rates and provide enough supply to last through the peak without mid-season reorders. Mid-season reorders during a busy period are disruptive and often expensive.
Step 5: Pre-Stage Supplies Before the Season Begins
Supplies that arrive before the busy season need to be received, stocked, and staged before the first busy-season order is processed. Pre-stage a week's worth of supplies at each work area — packing supplies at the packing station, office supplies at each desk, maintenance supplies at the maintenance area. A team that starts a busy season with pre-staged supplies works at full speed from day one; a team that starts with unstaged supplies loses the first day to setup.