Cross-docking should not be confused with the advance reservation of products for an order already in the portfolio… or with the advanced preparation slab where products are stored in locations close to the shipment (in order to reduce preparation paths).
When we leave these two cases, we are well on the principle of cross-docking!
WHAT DOES CROSS-DOCKING MEAN?
Cross-docking consists of crossing flows on docks. This could be summed up as allowing reservation and picking of items as soon as they are received in the warehouse: goods on reception docks are then transferred to the shipping docks, without passing through the stock.
The functionality of cross-docking is to avoid unnecessary handling (in particular the elimination of storage tasks) and to considerably reduce the transit time in the warehouse.
EGO, our WMS logistics solution, will be able to manage a cross-docking operation very simply… by “clicking on a box”: goods from the arrival docks will move to the departure docks to fulfill a customer order!
When, on the other hand, we don’t need to unpack and that complete pallets are immediately picked up in the same state to be shipped, EGO also allows it.
However, this can become more complex when only part of a pallet is stored on the receiving dock. Should the pallet be re-stored at the receiving dock, or sent to another area, or should the order requirement be left in the dock area only?
Of course, our WMS EGO can respond to these situations!