Loading Dock Management Benefits

Introduction of good loading dock management system, including dock appointment scheduling, has the ability to provide immediate and long term benefits to logistics sites, such as distribution centres, warehouses, shipping ports, and hospitals. And the best part is that many of these benefits can be achieved quickly, with very little up front lead time or investment.

MobileDOCK is an industry leading loading dock management and scheduling solution, deployed to industrial and city sites in many countries. MobileDOCK is simple to implement, with most customers being up and running in days (not weeks or months). Adoption by your supply chain community is very fast, because MobileDOCK is built with the network of suppliers and carrier in mind.

Reduced site congestion and street congestion
Improved efficiency
Elimination of demurrage costs
Enhanced safety
Increased security
Improved inventory tracking
Improved customer satisfaction

Reduced Congestion

Scheduling of vehicles arriving to site, considering available dock spaces, and already booked arrivals, flattens demand for dock space, and hence the time at which vehicles arrive to your site. The result being reduced congestion, and in most cases, complete elimination of congestion. Both within your site, but also in the street/s leading to your site.

Improved efficiency

When you don’t have a congested site, you know when vehicles are arriving, and you know what they are bringing, then you are able to coordinate site resources, and better utilise those resources. The right people and equipment can be deployed at the right time.

Elimination of Demurrage Costs

You have scheduled vehicle arrival to reduce congestion, and you have organised site resources. Now there is no reason for drivers/vehicles to queued and waiting on your site. Which means there are no demurrage charges back to you for holdups, because there are none. It is that simple. The pay back on implementation of a dock scheduling system can be weeks, and will be permanent.

Enhanced Safety

With a controlled number of vehicles on site at any one time, the outside street, yard and dock areas become a lot more controlled also. There are less people and less vehicles, which immediately improves site safety.

Increased Security

All site managers are responsible for the security of their site. And to help with this, many sites have a gate office. At the gate office, the driver may be asked to identify themselves, which company they represent, and possibly what they are bringing in. Thbis information might be recorded on an arrivals sheet, or spreadsheet. But should they be there? Are they authorised? Are they expected?

Through the use of a dock management system, parties who want to come on site must register, identify themselves, and be authorised… In advance of making a booking. Thereby providing advance notice of arrivals, and being able to check details of a vehicle/driver arriving, against the booked details.

Improved Inventory Tracking

There is frequently a visibility gap between issuing a purchase order (PO) for products, and those goods arriving to site. The gap can be partially filled with the implementation of advanced shipment notices (ASN’s). However implementing ASN’s with all suppliers is a large supply chain project, which can take years to fully deploy.

Where a dock appointment is made through a sophisticated loading dock management system which record PO/ASN’s being delivered against an appointment, and then (IMPORTANTLY) validate those business documents, then a tighter control of inventory is achieved, and a higher level of visibility obtained.

When this is done, then real-time integration with a warehouse management system provides critical inventory information back into your business.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

The a retailer business, providing a customer with the most accurate and up-to-date information is a differentiator. As previously described, a loading dock management system can fill a hole in your inventory data, and provide you higher quality data about when inventory is due into your facility. Your buyers will have this information to communicate to the sales teams. But equally, this information can be made available directly to sales and customer service personnel, to communicate with your customers.

MobileDOCK is the most advanced Loading Dock Management solution, in the market today, with a full range of capabilities to deliver a wide range of benefits, quickly, and at a low startup cost.

Find out more about how MobileDOCK can help with your site, with MobileDOCK for: