In this day and age, we have various business logistics that we need to consider, and cross docking is without a doubt a useful system that helps us deal with some of the logistics that arise with supply.
Cross docking is one of the best things that may have happened to the retail industry: this is largely because it applies to freight movements. Goods are basically transferred from one truck to another with no need for storage. While it does eliminate the need for warehouse facilities, it doesn’t completely eliminate their usefulness: sometimes goods could be briefly stored in a warehouse, depending on the logistics.
Are You Ready Cross Docking?
If you are looking to implement these solutions into your supply strategy, you need to identify if your business is ready for the services.
Suitable cross docking products include:
Urgent shipments could benefit from cross docking because this process is more delivery-oriented: this means that products get to reach their destination much faster than they ideally would have. This kind of efficiency is possible, thanks to the elimination of warehouse storage which in this case is unnecessary because the goods are unloaded and directly sorted to increase efficiency in delivery. You can therefore rest assured knowing that there will be no missed or late appointment delivery.
If you have high quality goods which do not necessarily require inspection for quality when being received then these too could benefit from cross docking because they are directly shipped to their destination in the fastest way possible.
Pre tagged goods and campaign or promotional material are also suitable cross docking products and this is largely because they are ready-made for the client and hence less logistics. If you have a retail business which has constant demand and supply of certain products, you might want to consider cross docking as well.
System Readiness For Cross Docking
Besides understanding the most suitable products for cross docking, you also need to have the capacity to handle the operations and business processes that come with this system.
You need to have:
You will need to implement warehouse management systems and integrate it into the system so as to receive updates such as pallet storage and semi-trailer reloading amongst other orders and requests that may arrive in real time. Analytics define the strategy for the systems and you need to have adequate data for this.
With logistics, ensure that you have enough resources and these include transportation and tracking for multiple shipments. Cross docking enables you to review allocations upon delivery while forecasting and replacement reviews processes to identify the extent of the process effectiveness.
Remember that your enterprise needs to be ready on various levels and not just as far as the system is concerned. That said, your retail enterprise requires certain changes to its existing processes and you must have products that can be sustained with this flow through system.