Is Your Company Ready for the Christmas Rush? How to Avoid Peak-Season Bottlenecks

Is Your Company Ready for the Christmas Rush? How to Avoid Peak-Season Bottlenecks

Every year, the Christmas rush hits harder and earlier. Order volumes spike, fulfilment windows shrink and production lines operate on overdrive. And while it’s easy to assume your current setup will cope, the reality is that November/December is typically when under-maintained printers fail, businesses run out of labels and ribbons, and bottlenecks start costing real money.

The good news? Preparing your labelling workflow doesn’t require major downtime - just smart planning and a clear understanding of the challenges ahead. Here’s how you can stay ahead of the Christmas peak in 2025.

1. Get Ahead With a Pre-Season Printer Health Check

If there’s one thing we see every single Q4, it’s this:
Printers that have been “fine all year” suddenly fail when pushed harder.

Christmas exposes:

- Worn printheads

- Dirty rollers

- Outdated firmware

- Sensor issues

- Low print quality (often unnoticed until a courier rejects unreadable barcodes)

A quick health check ensures your Zebra, Sato, Toshiba or other industrial printers are peak-ready long before December.

Top tip:
Schedule maintenance now — don’t wait until mid-December when engineers everywhere are fully booked and downtime becomes expensive.

2. Avoid Media Shortages: Stock Up on Labels, Ribbons & RFID

One of the biggest problems each Christmas is media shortages. Labels, ribbons, wristbands and RFID consumables all see increased demand, and certain materials often go on backorder.

To avoid stoppages:

. Review last year’s usage and increase your buffer

. Order high-demand items early (e.g. courier labels, thermal transfer ribbons, near-edge ribbons)

. Consider switching to longer-roll labels or linerless to reduce changeovers

. Pre-order RFID tags — Q4 lead times are always longer

Running out of consumables during peak is one of the quickest ways to halt production, so advance planning is essential.

3. Automate Now to Reduce Errors Later

Seasonal staff, high pressure and manual processes often lead to one major issue:
Mislabelled products.

Automation makes Christmas significantly smoother by reducing human error and increasing throughput:

- Automated print-and-apply systems keep label placement consistent

- Verification & vision systems prevent incorrect labels being applied

- Smart templates reduce operator input

- Real-time monitoring prevents unnoticed faults building up

Even partial automation can save thousands during peak.

4. Check That Your Printers Can Keep Up (Speed Matters at Christmas)

The festive season is when many businesses realise their current printers are underpowered. If your operation is scaling - or simply overloaded - it may be time to consider an upgrade.

Industrial models like Zebra’s ZT series or high-duty print engines can offer:

. Faster print speeds

. Higher durability

. Predictive diagnostics with Zebra’s Print DNA

. Long-lasting performance under continuous load

If your business prints 5,000–50,000+ labels per day during peak, reviewing your hardware now avoids mid-season breakdowns later.

5. Prepare for Boxing Day & January Returns

Peak doesn’t end on Christmas Eve.

Returns processing spikes massively from 26th December through mid-January, and that means:

- More shipping labels

- More return merchandise authorisation (RMA) labels

- More courier-specific formats

- More printhead wear

Businesses that plan ahead for January handle returns smoothly while competitors are scrambling.

6. How We Help You Navigate the Christmas Rush

At BHT Services, we support businesses across manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, food production and pharmaceuticals to stay fully operational throughout peak periods.

We offer:

. Pre-season printer servicing & health checks

. Emergency engineer callouts

. Fast delivery of labels, ribbons & RFID

. Industrial label printer upgrades

. Full print-and-apply automation solutions

. Expert advice tailored to high-volume operations

Whether you’re preparing for your busiest season yet or just want peace of mind, we’ll help ensure your labelling setup is ready for Christmas 2025.

The Christmas rush doesn’t need to be stressful. With the right preparation - from stocking media, to servicing printers, to optimising automation - your labelling workflow can stay fast, accurate and reliable even at peak times.

If you want help assessing your current setup or planning for the season ahead, contact BHT Services today.

A few proactive steps now could save days of downtime in the future.