A new take on dimensioning in the DC

The answer is: length x width x height divided by 139, rounded up.

The question: What is the formula for dimensional (DIM) weight pricing calculations, according to FedEx and UPS?

Carriers charge for each shipment based on either what they call the dimensional weight or the actual weight of the package, whichever is greater. And that fact has made a really strong case for the use of cubing and weighing systems in the shipping department.

But it’s not just in shipping that DC managers are faced with collecting and using all the data they can without slowing up processes. This brings us to a second question: What else can dimensioning systems do than, say, the one from Mettler Toledo that handles up to 18,000 packages an hour regardless of shape?

Most importantly: How could dimensional data improve DC operations and processes? The answer is not quite as clear as the first one in this column. However, dimensioning systems do appear to be taking on, well, another dimension. From receiving to truck loading, dimensioning systems are poised to optimize handling processes and equipment use while ensuring accuracy and capacity utilization. Pretty cool when you think about it.

Over at Cubiscan, Jeff Wade, director of service, talks about using the Cubiscan 325 to dimension and weigh small and medium-sized packages. The unit helps manage individual apparel items in plastic bags for activities such as slotting, order fulfillment and shipment packing. The data can be fed directly into the warehouse management system for inventory management while in the DC, as well as to FedEx and UPS shipping systems.

Then there’s Intel RealSense systems. These feature what is called a DIM weight software library to build a volumetric measurement system for everything in the facility. The real star is what Intel calls “the world’s smallest hi-resolution LiDar camera.” LiDar, which stands for light detection and ranging, is an advanced, but proven laser-based camera technology that “gives precise volumetric measurements of objects.”

The camera collects 23 million pixels a second and is ideal for applications that require depth data, high resolution and high accuracy, according to Intel. It can literally count the objects on a shelf or rack as well as those on a pallet to ensure everything that is supposed to be in place actually is.

It can also be used in reverse, at least for how most cubing and weighing systems work, to confirm receipt of all the right boxes, including those on pallets. An application Intel especially likes is placement of several cameras on an autonomous mobile robot that monitors inventory on racks and shelves to maximize use of the cube. The idea is to scan multiple SKUs on multiple levels at high speeds. And in the shipping department, RealSense monitors and tracks pallet building with no boxes left behind.

No doubt, cubing and weighing will remain true to its original purpose. However, related dimensioning technologies appear ready to offer DC managers a new tool to better package how they organize and manage their facilities.