One touch distribution: Crossdocking routes inventory from the receiving dock to the shipping dock in minutes

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 6/27/2006

How fast you can get product through your facility has a lot to do with how efficient your DC can become.

That’s why many distributors are implementing crossdocking processes wherever possible, says John Folk, executive vice president of Worldsource Integration Inc. (630-795-1100).

“Crossdocking is the ability to speed merchandise through your distribution center without it ever touching the floor,” says Folk. “You want inventory to come into the building, get processed as quickly as possible and then move out through the shipping dock.”

In the most efficient facilities, the time between the receiving dock and shipping dock can be as little as 10 minutes--or less.

The mechanics of crossdocking sound simple: You unload a truck, place the cartons on a conveyor and off they go to an outbound shipping dock for store delivery.

But the best crossdock operations require real synchronization. For starters, vendors must be willing to provide value-added services that were once performed in the DC. They must also provide compliance labeling and advance ship notifications.

And, crossdocking requires automated bar code scanning and a robust warehouse management system to match incoming inventory with outgoing orders; a print-and-apply system to automatically create and apply outbound shipping labels; and a high-speed sortation system to route cases and pallets to the right shipping lane.

“The payoff comes when you have enough volume to justify automation, the right carton mix and vendor compliance,” says Folk.