“White Glove” in logistics began with movers or shippers actually wearing white gloves to protect the product while it was being transported or installed. The term then began to be generally used for any kind of logistics service which requires special care or attention.
Concepts
‘White Glove’ is the term used to describe the service that SEKO provides to its clients, which involves installation or assembly of the goods at destination site, special care of valuable or fragile items, and proof-of-quality checking of the final delivered & installed result.
This process must of course be connected to the wider logistics process of collection of goods, transportation and warehouse activities.
Also the additional tasks of pre-installation site surveys, co-ordination and booking of installer specialist suppliers, quality checking processes, and installer performance ratings.
These tasks may vary considerably in the detail, depending on the specifics of a client’s needs, the kinds of goods involved, and the type of delivery site.
Tasks may also need to carried out in different sequence depending on product; for example, it needs to be assembled at a final mile warehouse facility and delivered to destination site for some goods; in other situations, assembly and installation takes place at the destination site.
One of the major logistical challenges is managing change. That is, a booking was made, the shipment and white glove activities were planned, goods start being transported; but then the client requests changes e.g. goods must diverted elsewhere, their end client cancelled the order, the final site delivery location or dates have changed. Virtually anything that was originally planned may change while the process is in flight.
There is also the additional challenge of handling reallocation of goods held at interim warehouses to other bookings, and of finding the most efficient movements of goods to keep costs as low as possible i.e., minimising the need to move large or fragile goods between warehouses and final mile facilities. The system needs a very good understanding of what & how much goods is held at each place at any given point in time.