The dock is a key part of any operation. It is the critical interface between the inside and outside, for product coming and going. It can either be a choke point and a source of pain, or it can be a model of efficiency that reflects your entire operation.
If you are either learning, shopping or simply curious, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about dock scheduling.
In this guide, you’ll learn about:
What is Dock Scheduling?
Dock Scheduling Software & Appointment Management System: What’s the Difference?
10 Warning Signs You Need a Dock Scheduling Software
Why You Should Integrate a Dock Scheduling Software as Soon as Possible
Other Impacts of Poor Dock Scheduling
Choosing the Right Solution for You - a Buyer's Guide
Build or Buy?
Understanding R.O.I - How to Build your case
C3 ROI Calculator
The simplest way of defining Dock scheduling (or a Dock Appointment Scheduling system) is as a solution that allows distribution center operators to optimize inbound and outbound traffic. It improves dock productivity and door turnaround, expands visibility, eliminates site congestion and automates the appointment booking process with suppliers and carriers via an online portal.
Let's demystify the capabilities and limitations of WMS and TMS software as it pertains to their ability to manage scheduling to docks.
We have seen many requests for supply chain software that include basic requirements for scheduling software; essentially simple checkboxes next to the requirement for appointment scheduling. Businesses shouldn’t underestimate the complexity and the importance of scheduling loads in/out of the site and its impact on both warehousing and transportation departments.
In order to better understand this argument, we’ll explore the core missions of the TMS and WMS providers and give examples of their shortcomings in retail, manufacturing, and grocery industries.
A TMS can mean different things to different users, but they can be summarized in three main domains:
In all these cases, the owner of the TMS controls the freight spend. In the grocery industry, for example, a TMS will be used to route deliveries to their stores and potentially tender out loads on routes outside of their fleet’s reach. But one can clearly see that the grocer is in a position to control 100% of the freight spend. On the inbound side, however, other than backhauls, freight comes from such diverse methods that it is difficult to control 100% of it. There is domestic freight, cross border freight, ocean and air freight of which a mix is prepaid and collected.
There are exceptions to this, but there are few. Thus, in the grocery industry, a TMS doesn’t have the reach to provide the grocer visibility on 100% of the inbound traffic flow; creating a risk that live loads may culminate in creating driver wait times and for priority loads not to have the desired access to the warehouse.
In a manufacturing environment, we witnessed a bottler using a TMS to build shipments (based on volume and destination) and tendering them on the TMS online portal.
Although the pickup date is known, carriers need to call or email for an appointment in order to establish the pickup time because certain variables are unknown in the TMS, such as whether the shipment is live or preloaded, taken off the production line or from stock, etc. With the scheduling software, companies such as this bottler can customize their capacity plan to take into consideration all the variables that affect dock productivity.
The carrier, using the load number produced by the TMS, enters it in the scheduling software portal, and the available times displayed now truly reflect the site’s capacity plan, eliminating the back and forth emails and phone calls. Furthermore, it is possible, through the use of web APIs, for the scheduling software to receive the load numbers and then send back the confirmation of the appointment date and time to the TMS, eliminating duplicate data entry and the associated risk of errors.
A best-in-class scheduling system focuses on:
This is where a fully integrated independent scheduling software helps.
When does the TMS fail?
Here are telltale signs the TMS is failing you in the realm of scheduling.
Less than 100% of the loads are managed by the TMS
Carriers are unable to schedule the loads online
Sites are unable to influence the sequence of shipments. They have no control over capacity constraints to assist in leveling the workflow.
You can’t capture all the KPIs necessary to measure dock performance.
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Takeaways:
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WMS have made great strides over the past decades in optimizing warehousing, particularly put-away and pick times, overall storage capacity, automated conveying with de-palletizers and pickers, establishing labor standards, incorporating voice picking, advance safety measures and more. Essentially, they manage the stocking of item numbers and optimize the flow of purchase order numbers in order to reduce the logistical cost while ensuring high service levels. (We go through all these technologies and their benefits in our Retail white paper Warehouse Software Systems: The Brains Behind the Operation).
At its core, a WMS buys goods from suppliers, inventories them, and sells goods to customers. A WMS doesn’t have a relationship (from a software perspective) with carriers, load numbers, truck types, and other variables that are essential to properly plan your dock schedule. Furthermore, some WMS don’t manage intercompany transfers properly because they cannot associate a sale order (create a PO# for a non-customer) to the transfer items - nevermind planning a dock appointment!
For example, a value retailer receiving ocean freight containers needs to be able to estimate the unloading time of these versus domestic shipments that are palletized. Their WMS/ERP is a well-known brand but doesn’t even provide a timestamp at the starting point of the unloading process. This was frustrating for the retailer since they couldn’t properly plan the labor hours required to unload and subsequently could not measure it!
In the furniture retail business, a customer receives a variety of different load types via various transport methods. Their WMS, another well-known brand, knows the product type. However, it can’t know, in the case of rug loads, that; a) a special conveyor is required to unload them, b) this conveyor is located at a specific dock area, and c) since it takes 4 hours to unload, they don’t want to receive more than one per day.
This is where you need full visibility and planning capabilities with an advanced dock scheduling solution.
When does the WMS fail?
Suppliers, carriers, and customers can’t book their appointments online.
Sites are unable to influence the sequence of shipments. They have no control over capacity constraints to assist in leveling the workflow.
Prioritizing shipments whether for inbound or outbound, is not possible.
You can’t capture all the KPIs necessary to measure dock performance.
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Takeaways:
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Life would be so much simpler if there was a one-size-fits-all supply chain software provider. Obviously, the WMS and TMS industry is large and controls a huge dollar spend. Yet in the middle, between the entrance to the site and the dock doors, there’s a little space too often neglected.
If you’re wondering whether your WMS or TMS is efficiently managing your dock schedule, watch out for signs such as:
Clerks managing hundreds of emails per day.
Multiple spreadsheets are used to track shipments and schedules
Your shipping/receiving leads and admins are super busy and stressed out.
If you see any of these signs, you know your WMS & TMS aren’t cut out to be dock scheduling software!
Distribution Centers
Distribution Centers can fully automate their dock appointment scheduling process. With an advanced dock scheduling platform, they can build a plan for each warehouse that will dictate who can deliver which product, at which facility and in what time period. This ensures that carriers and vendors will respect priorities and limitations when they request their appointments.
Suppliers & Carriers
With a SaaS dock scheduling system, suppliers and carriers can request appointments online. The portal being available 24/7, these supply chain partners no longer need to call into the appointment desk. Their appointments are confirmed automatically, and all communications are automated within the portal or via system generated email confirmations.
Scheduling practices are particularly complicated in the grocery world due to the numerous exceptions and rules which govern a scheduler’s decision for booking load dates and times.
Grocers, wholesalers or retailers, national or regional players, all face similar challenges:
Is the food getting to the stores fresh?
Are vendors bringing the right product on time?
Are docks receiving resources used efficiently?
There are many factors that influence the answers to the above questions, including the process by which appointments are requested, booked and confirmed. Using sophisticated constraints, unload duration computation rules and PO information (EDD, SKU, Qty…), a best-of-breed dock scheduling system provides planning and execution tools which ensures the right product will arrive on time while balancing the dock workload. Discover C3 Solutions' F.O.O.D. Program designed specifically for the Grocery Industry.
Retailers were among the early adopters of a dock appointment scheduling process; enforcing a disciplined schedule.
The challenge is that most have not modernized their process in decades beyond replacing the phone calls with emails and paper calendars with spreadsheets.
With the incessant pressure on reducing supply chain costs, warehouses are looking to reduce the labor hours spent on scheduling, obtain better visibility via KPIs, as well as improving reporting for on-time arrivals and unloading duration in order to make their receiving and shipping operations more efficient.
C3 Solutions launched its Retail Program last year. Visit this page and learn how the technology is reshaping the retail landscape. Plan your next move!
Third-party warehousing companies, be they contract or multi-tenant, need to maintain high service levels with all parties while operating on slim margins.
Eliminating drivers wait times, maximizing the labor utilization rate, and monitoring strict compliance KPIs are some of the reasons why 3PLs select an online carrier appointment scheduling software.
Just-in-time manufacturing is synonymous to having no margin for error. This means that logistics, both in terms of supply chain and delivery chain, play an increasingly important role in the overall success of the organization.
With a dock appointment scheduling system in place, the manufacturing sites have visibility on each DC’s schedule, providing the means to communicate to the carriers the appointment time. This real-time communication ensures that trucks arrive on time and in the desired sequence, preventing congestion and therefore improving the flow of goods.
First, one has to recognize that dock scheduling is not merely about booking an appointment in a given time slot. Contrary to individuals who simply wish to book an appointment in, say, a medical clinic, scheduling trailers needs to take into consideration dock and floor space, equipment, labor, business priorities (production J-I-T to retail promotions) and then some. Therefore, from the start, one needs to recognize that scheduling trailers and containers in and out of a facility touches business processes, such as inventory, production, and customer orders.
The traditional pen and paper approach to scheduling doesn't provide the maximum efficiency due to the multiple variables in play (load types, vehicle types, load priorities, etc.). Changing the scheduling system involves many players, in and around the warehouse. Managers may feel that finding a solution that satisfies all the team members’ requirements a daunting task in order to prevent:
Let’s use this small operation as a reference example:
This adds up to 20 hours of work per week to manage a single schedule of 100 appointments.
Added to these management costs are the costs of not having a proper appointment management system in place:
Of course a dock scheduling system may not replace the need for a scheduler but imagine the time that could be saved if this process was automated – even partially; time which could be invested in more proactive tasks such as measuring and enforcing vendor compliance, for example.
Dock scheduling software is meant to optimize the flow of trucks in and out of the docks at a warehouse or manufacturing facility. The software also has other inherent benefits such as eliminating the need for emails and phone calls to book and amend appointments plus reporting on KPIs, among others..
Since the dock operations are adjacent to warehouse operations and because TMS manage loads in and out of the site, it is natural that complimentary software providers extend their product offering by promising to also efficiently manage dock scheduling.
Here's how a Dock Scheduling System will transform how you work:
(Plan / Schedule / Measure / Communicate) FEATURES
The best way to optimize the supply chain is by implementing collaborative and automated systems and hopefully leverage data integration between information systems and mobile technology.
Independent of the type of business you operate, dock scheduling relates to managing the timeliness of the shipments for both inbound and outbound traffic in your facility. Intuitively, one would think that scheduling is required only when the traffic exceeds the capacity to receive or ship. Although volume is important, it isn’t the only determining factor. In fact, dock scheduling is all about maximizing the efficiency of your dock operations, from the standpoint of your labor, equipment and business requirements.
Surprisingly, most operators don’t recognize the real cost of their dock scheduling inefficiencies.You don't need to be experiencing all these problems for your docks to be operating inefficiently. Even exhibiting one or two of these symptoms means there are steps you can take to streamline operations, and enhance efficiency to improve productivity and cut costs.
At the dock
There is frequently a lineup of trucks in your yard.
Drivers complain about the wait times at your docks.
At the desk
Staff are constantly on the phone with carriers, making appointments and answering queries about where drivers are.
Internal clients, like sales or purchasing, are calling to find out where the product is.
There is lots of paperwork: Daily, weekly, monthly reports, truck manifests, driver detention invoices... it builds up and takes too much of your time to manage.
Costs
Carriers are getting testy about making pickups and deliveries at your site.Your customers are unhappy, and are penalizing you because of late deliveries.
Staff are working too much overtime, but also seem to have a lot of downtime when there are no trucks arriving or leaving
Quality and Safety
Safety is compromised because people are in a hurry. Mistakes are made.
Debris builds up.
Maintenance may be skipped.
You don't have any insight into the carrier's performance.
"A Dock Scheduling Software is Too Expensive"
"Dock Scheduling Over the Web – My Carriers and Suppliers Will Never Do It!"
"My Vendors Will Never Buy Into the New Scheduling Process"
"We Can’t Afford to Refuse Loads so Why Bother Scheduling?”
"I Don’t Need A Dock Appointment Scheduling Because I Deal With A 3PL"
Dock Scheduling will provide you with one single goal: Optimize your operations. Your business will turn over a new leaf because it will leap into new habits that will streamline day-to-day tasks with a blink of an eye, but also improve relationships in the overall Supply chain (Read about The Lean Supply Chain in our article).
Integrating a Dock scheduling system in your operations plays a leading role in alleviating obvious pain points when scheduling appointments:
Back-and-forth Communications
System Updates
Appointments Change Requests
Internal Communications
However, visibility means much more than knowing where your merchandise, workforce are. It means taking into account the unforeseen impacts of appointments multiple variables:
A practical example that comes to mind is one most often seen in the retail and distribution industries. We hear warehouse managers complain that their purchasing departments place orders with little consideration for their warehouse capacity. In fact, the buyers simply don’t have visibility on warehouse capacity.
After implementing the dock scheduling system and integrating PO data from their ERP/WMS, the warehouse managers can now see the volumes that are expected to be delivered in the coming days and either adjust their capacity (e.g., labor) or advise the buyers ahead of time to correct the incoming volumes. Improved visibility eliminated the element of surprise, reducing the risk of cluttering the floor with overflow stock and more importantly improved warehouse productivity by reducing overtime labor.
Through automation:
Do you remember when paperless efforts in the supply chain were only related to 'green' initiatives? Saving paper was the big thing - and still should be; but, current events have driven a renewed demand for avoiding paper.
This White Paper discusses the various ways in which automated processes will not only help keep your business alive during these uncertain times, but will also reassure your workforce that they are safe while at work.
Technology for the paperless future
Becoming a "Shipper of Choice"
Speed, accuracy, and accountability
Sustainability
Cost Savings
Strategies to alleviate the bottom-line pain that shippers feel due to a lack of truck drivers range from improving the profession's image to attract more drivers, to improving the productivity of those who remain, to changing transportation and network options.
Shippers are up against serious challenges in 2023. Numerous factors are combining to make it difficult for manufacturers and retailers alike to achieve the increased volume, speed and accuracy demanded by our booming economy.
Put simply, constrained capacity has turned transportation – specifically trucking, which moves about 70 percent of freight – into a pain point for many shippers. It's a story we’ve heard before, but this time it's worse than ever. Many of these challenges are systemic, meaning that everyone faces them, and they demand ever more creative solutions to ensure bottom-line success. In this paper we will look at the many factors contributing to the capacity crunch, explore some of the ways shippers try to pretend it's not a problem, and then offer some practical methods for improving the situation.
This article on Driver's Shortage provides a deeper understanding of the causes of the situation, but also outlines ideas you can apply to your own logistics operation.
Explore how effective dock scheduling optimizes daily logistics operations, boosts productivity, and makes you a preferred shipper with C3 Solutions.
Here are 4 must-reads on becoming a shipper of choice
Carrier Review - On the Road to Becoming a Shipper of Choice
Dock Scheduling: 3 Factors Impacting your Relationship with Carriers
We’ve occasionally received inquiries from operations managers, typically in manufacturing or 3PL environments, who admit they need to get their docks organized because their customers are complaining about drivers wait times and slow turnarounds. Their scheduling process is either nonexistent or totally improvised - far from being Lean. In their case, implementing a dock scheduling software like C3 Reservations forces them to change their business processes and implement ‘best practices’ - definitely a cornerstone in building better customer relationships.
For essential tips on shopping for dock scheduling software, download C3's ultimate buying guidebook: Everything you need to know about Dock Scheduling Software
You might be convinced to adopt a dock scheduling system, but with so many options out there - from best of breed off-the-shelf applications to in-house custom developed software. Here is what you should be looking out for when shopping with specific requirements in mind.
Here are 4 main considerations you should focus on when looking for a new dock scheduling system: Function, Interface and Data Sharing and Technology.
There are a few ways you can get the dock scheduling system you need. Options include developing it in-house, buying a license software, or choosing Software as a Service (SaaS).
In-house development may seem like a good option if you have a unique set-up with custom legacy software and IT resources sitting idle. However, once you factor in all the time and resources it would require to develop your own solution—unless you are a software development firm—chances are you'll find yourselves behind schedule and ultimately with an out-of-date product. There’s so much expertise on the market at the moment that in-house development just doesn’t make good business sense.
You have a strong and dedicated I.T team who knows the in and outs of your warehouse operations. But are they really aware of all needs and do they have a 360 degree visibility and communication on everything that is going on in and out?
Okay, let’s say you’ve chosen to build your own solution. That’s the first step. Now... When exactly will this solution be in place and at what cost for your business?
When evaluating the costs and time, take into consideration gathering your requirements, designing the application and its architecture, developing the front-end and back-end, testing the solution, buying the hardware, deploying the application, setting it up and VOILA! Months, maybe even years have gone by and you’re maybe going live with your solution. You’ve spent valuable internal IT resources on a project that could’ve been long deployed. End result: your competitors are way ahead of you and your business is deploying out-of-date software. Remember: you’re developing an application that will (hopefully) have a web front-end so your vendors and carriers can manage their own appointments. It needs to be future-friendly. We all know how quickly web technology evolves and can become outdated in a matter of months.
Another aspect related to cost is the fact that software providers are already offering Dock Scheduling as software-as-a-service (SaaS). This ensures you limit your financial exposure. ‘Pay-as-you-go’ dock scheduling allows you to subscribe to the service and pay only for what you need. No upfront capital expenditure. You’re guaranteed to reap the benefits from day one.
Licensed software requires a sizable investment in hardware to run it on, and also may leave your organization vulnerable to data breaches when the system runs on your own servers (due in part to external portal access). It generally requires a substantial commitment to maintaining in-house IT resources as well.
A SaaS solution, on the other hand, requires no hardware and no software. It is scalable and quick to implement. SaaS systems also avoid the security concerns about letting outside users inside the company firewall, because they are hosted in secure data centres and are frequently updated to ensure security keeps up. These systems are easily customized and can effectively communicate with your enterprise systems. SaaS systems are also less expensive and can offer an ROI in only a few months.
Oftentimes, one of the reasons companies look into building their own dock scheduling solution is that they believe this will ensure they hit the mark on 100% of their requirements. Well, I’ve got some bad news for them: it’s not the case!
First off, dock scheduling vendors have been working for years with teams of developers and business specialists in order to address the challenges faced by multitudes of companies. They’ve designed their software to answer the needs of manufacturers, distributors and 3PLs in an ever-growing list of industries... don’t you think you fit somewhere in there and can benefit from that exposure?
Additionally, keep in mind that new requirements and ideas evolve as a product is developed. It just comes with the territory. This means you’ll need to accommodate them in some way in your software (or you could let the business down and tell them they’ll have to wait for the next version... oh wait, when is that going to happen with bespoke software?). With an off-the-shelf solution, chances are the software vendor has encountered this requirement with other customers and already has features addressing it in its service
At some point, you’ll want your solution to interact in some way or another with systems in your enterprise (if not, see my second argument about new requirements...). Are all these systems bespoke pieces of software you’ve developed over the years? If so, maybe building is for you. But for most companies out there, it’s more likely they’ve got ‘off-the-shelf’ products from well-known vendors for several of their larger systems (ERPs, WMS, TMS, YMS, etc). Going with a software vendor that has a proven track record in integrating these systems (or even specific products) can simplify your integration project and ensure you get the most of your brand new dock scheduling system.
The cost of the software will vary greatly whether you are buying a licensed software or a SaaS platform, like C3 Reservations.
Licensed software
Read our white paper on How Technology is Reshaping the Modern Supply Chain.
Adopting a Dock Scheduling system doesn't mean it can be worked on integrated with a single click.
A crucial part of the process is to assemble a successful project. Team that will work in harmony with your vendor's team. Clear Communication between all departments is key, but if you are interested in 10 tips for a successful implementation, you can check our list here in our practical guide about Buying a Dock Scheduling Software.
Do companies call us for a dock scheduling system strictly because they want to cut costs?
Rarely. In a recent inquiry, the person wrote:
‘’I am the logistics manager. I am in need of a dock scheduling software that will provide me peace of mind, and will eliminate archaic complications.’’
No mention about cutting costs here; not that price wasn’t important. We can easily say that almost all inquiries we get are to resolve process issues, from plain inefficiencies to execution errors that are deemed critical.
What potential gains will you obtain from a dock scheduling software?
While for some of you the need for a scheduling system is painfully obvious, and the pressure to implement one may be coming from senior management, for others it might be necessary at this point to demonstrate the value to management before you can get the budget to proceed. In that case, the next step is to estimate the cost of inefficient operations.
Use our ROI Calculator to calculate your yearly savings and download your free report: