Fast ROI: The Hard and Soft Dollar Savings of Dock Scheduling Software

The good news is that when it comes to dock scheduling software, your ROI is easily justified thanks to the potential for hard and soft savings. Here, we’ll explain ROI in simple, objective terms to help you make informed decisions for your dock.

What’s At Stake by Doing Nothing?

One result of the pandemic has been a new appreciation of the importance of the supply chain when it comes to company profitability and customer service. And since everything supply chain-related moves through a shipping dock at some point, this part of a company’s operation has make-or-break importance.

One option is for companies not to change anything and continue without dock scheduling software. But, without robust and organized processes on the dock, companies are setting themselves up for failure in several ways. Here are a few:

• By placing additional strain on already tight labor resources
• Incurring unnecessary costs and penalties, such as detention
• Losing “shipper of choice” status, the most competitive rates, and access to capacity
• No opportunities to measure carrier performance and drive improvement

What Does It Look Like When These Problems Are Fixed?

A well-run shipping dock avoids those problems. Any company looking to improve its dock operations will know it’s making progress when specific things start to happen:

• Trucks get loaded faster
• There’s a more consistent, easier-to-manage flow of trucks
• Greater visibility into dock appointments along with easier staff planning
• Quick access to data that measures performance and can hold carriers accountable

How does a company get to this point? It’s almost effortless with the help of a dock scheduling solution.

Easy To Quantify ROI: The Hard Savings

As we noted, getting buy-in to add such technology doesn’t come without discussing cost and the expected ROI. Much of the early savings technology can offer comes by eliminating or reducing the time spent on three shipping-related tasks and issues: detention, scheduling, and updates.

There’s More To It, The Soft Savings

The ROI of dock scheduling software doesn’t stop with the opportunities outlined above. For one, carriers recognize when a shipper is good to work with and, as a result, will offer lower freight rates over time.

The term Shipper of Choice can be overused, but it’s a real thing. Reliable and consistent loading at the dock shapes a carrier’s experience and is a big part of that perception. Carriers recognize freight that’s good for them. The benefits to shippers who can offer it include lower rates and better access to capacity when trucks are hard to come by.

Answering The ROI Equation

The cost of any software has to be justified by the value it provides. Dock scheduling software offers direct and easy-to-quantify savings by reducing penalties like detention and improving employee utilization. And other slower-to-be-realized savings come through better rates and delivery service performance.

Of course, the ROI for any individual company is unique. Get the full ebook that outlines all the hard and soft savings of dock scheduling, and includes access to Opendock’s free ROI Calculator to understand the ROI of your dock.