"We’re just as busy every day as on Black Friday"

While the corona crisis has closed JYSK stores in many countries, employees at the distribution centres have been extra busy. GOJYSK.com has received a status from DCU and DCN.

Imagine 168 trucks parked in one long queue. All of them are packed with JYSK goods, and overall the line extends more than 2.3 kilometres.

That is how many items the employees at JYSK's distribution centre in Uldum, Denmark, packed on Friday 17 April 2020. In total, 8,400 cubic metres of goods, which is well above the previous record of 7,000 cubic metres, set on 14 February 2019.

"We’re just as busy every day as on Black Friday," says Henrik Gromada, Logistics Manager at DCU, referring to what is normally the busiest period of the year when Christmas shopping usually starts.

During March and April, the number of online orders from JYSK.dk – and the other countries to which DCU supplies goods – has increased dramatically. This caused busyness in Uldum, where 100 employees – out of a total of 400 – were quickly trained to pack online orders.

“It is standard for us that you can be moved around to different tasks, so we are flexible. In general, I have experienced a good spirit here at DCU because everyone has known that we have been in a situation where we have had to change course many times. The good JYSK Values ​​at their best,” says Henrik Gromada.

Engaged colleagues at DCN

Also at the distribution centre in Nässjö (DCN), Sweden, the corona crisis has meant a partly new workday.

DCN supplies goods to JYSK’s stores and to the online business in Sweden and Finland. Since all stores in both countries, except for one city store in Redi in Finland, have been able to stay open in both March and April, DCN has had to find solutions in order to be able to supply as normal to the stores as well as a growing demand for online shopping.

“We saw some reduction in volumes towards stores in March, while e-commerce, on the other hand, has grown steadily week after week. During April, we have had normal volumes on store flow, and e-commerce has continued to rise,” says Emil Östlin, Operations Manager at DCN.

To keep up with the increased pressure, employees have been trained in online shopping while more staff has also been recruited.

“In addition, we have opened up for ‘picking’ during the weekends. So we have increased capacity to our customers. At the same time, our carriers, who are responsible for the home deliveries, have increased their capacity for us.”

Emil Östlin is very pleased with how the team at DCN has met the challenges that followed the corona crisis, and says it is strong teams that create the right conditions.

“Our employees have worked a lot and are fighting every day to get the goods out to our customers. But the atmosphere is super good. We have fantastic employees, who are always ready to make an effort.”