Supply Chain Information Technology Perspectives

Feb022011

The Ins and Outs to Dock Scheduling: Will Your System Provide the Functionality You Need?

Published by Susan.Evans at 5:00 AM under warehouse control system

We welcome Susan Evans back to the SCIT Blog, now, as a regular contributor. Thank you, Susan, for joining us on this blog.

-- SCIT Team

After 20 years in supply chain and logistics technology and working with many shippers, distributors and logistics service providers, I still find it interesting how different companies approach the process of dock/appointment scheduling.

Is it a warehouse process or a transportation process? Does it depend on inbound or outbound and who is managing which? Can the company’s current or legacy systems drive this?

Today, many warehouses, distributors, retailers and other facilities around the world remain challenged with manual processes when trying to schedule arrival and departure of carriers.

This is most painful when there are hundreds of trucks arriving for pick-up and delivery to a single facility each day. And companies that are turning to logistics technology are asking about the capabilities of dock scheduling and are eager to move away from the use of phones, emails, spreadsheets and the dreaded whiteboard.

With these hurdles, it is obvious that dock management is key to on-time deliveries – from the starting point to the end destination.

Depending on the scale of operation, many companies and distributors will schedule a specific delivery time or timeframe, along with a specific docking bay, for both the loading and unloading of goods. Some even offer dedicated dock doors to either carriers or product type due to proximity of unloading/loading to perhaps the cool storage area.

Also, the manner in which the driver receives notification of his or her assigned dock can vary. It could be a phone call or an e-mail, or it could be pre-assigned in the form of a document, note, or other hardcopy. In some instances, they don't create any schedules or assign specific docks, and it is on a first-come, first-served basis, defined by the gate keeper and dock manager on radios.

Distribution Center Companies with growing deliveries and truckloads departing are looking to technology to assist with this time-consuming process. The interesting component that some are looking at is as an extension of a Transport Management System, others as an extension of Warehouse Management System and then some as a completely stand alone application.

So what are the advantages of the systems approach to dock scheduling?

Running Dock Scheduling from the WMS: The main consideration is labor productivity coordination in the warehouse and making sure you have the proper staffing, as well as the correct material handling equipment at the docks to manage unloading and putaway, in addition to loading. The WMS can also factor in the best dock location to minimize travel during the putaway process.

Running Dock Scheduling from the TMS: This provides a more seamless communication with carriers to schedule or to assign appointments. Online systems support self scheduling by shipper, carrier or LSP. And it allows for reminder functionality, attaching Bill of Lading or other paperwork to the appointment schedule to continue to streamline communications and reduce administration time.

Stand-alone Applications: These applications may take on not only scheduling of dock doors but a more comprehensive set of functionality of yard management, including the management of empty trailers and full trailers around the yard to optimize dock activity when waiting on drivers to load.

Functionality varies among dock-scheduling providers. Standard features found across many providers include: