When new items arrive at your warehouse, unloading them and getting them onto your inventory shelves as quickly and efficiently as possible is critical. But that’s not always as simple as it seems. In bustling warehouses with many incoming and outgoing shipments combined with heavy fulfillment operations, it’s easy for confusion to take over.
Believe it or not, a significant amount of warehousing costs are devoted to moving items between loading docks and storage systems. If bottlenecks occur in those processes, it can impact your ability to fulfill and even sell items. Here is how your dock to stock process can be one of the keys to reducing warehouse bottlenecks.
What is Dock to Stock?
Dock to stock (DTS) is a process that begins when your warehouse receives goods at the loading dock and ends when the inventory is stored on shelves, racks, bins, or pallets. The operation involves a series of steps or phases that are vital for determining a warehouse’s overall efficiency.
How fast should your warehouse be moving its products from the receiving dock to its storage locations? According to data from the American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC), top-performing companies get this done in about 3.9 hours, with bottom performers taking up to 48 hours, and the median time being about 12.6 hours.
Understanding Dock to Stock Processes and Procedures
Dock to stock might seem simple on the surface, but it involves many different steps to get products from an inbound vehicle to their proper storage area inside a warehouse. Here are the main steps involved in the dock to stock process:
1. Receiving/Receipt
Dock to stock begins when products or goods arrive at your warehouse’s loading docks. Usually, they will come in with a Warehouse Receiving Order (WRO). The warehouse team working in the receiving department will confirm the shipment and unload the trucks or containers using pallet jacks or forklifts.
The unloaded goods are placed in a secure and safe location, usually referred to as a staging area. If there are any immediate concerns about the shipment, they can be addressed at this stage.
2. Goods Inspection
Once unloaded and placed in a staging area, the shipments should be inspected. This may happen simultaneously during the prior step. Depending on how goods are loaded, it may require additional work, such as checking the number of items received versus those orders, verifying the integrity of the packaging on products, and ensuring that the products contained in the boxes match those listed on the WRO.
3. Inventory Updates
Whether during the offloading or from the staging area, the next step is to update your warehouse’s inventory numbers. This step is critical for inventory accuracy. It’s vital to know what has arrived so you can fulfill backorders, continue to provide a positive customer experience, and understand what items are sitting on your shelves or require re-ordering.
4. Product Storage
The final step in the dock to stock process is placing the newly-arrived products in their designated storage places within the warehouse. If you don’t store items properly and promptly, it will create major disruptions in your order fulfillment processes.
Potential Issues Creating Dock to Stock Bottlenecks
Because the dock to stock process involves multiple steps, there is the potential for bottlenecks. Here are some of the common issues that lead to longer-than-normal cycle times and poor business outcomes:
- Labor Shortages — You can only achieve efficient dock to stock movement if you have adequate warehouse staffing to do the work.
- Equipment Failures — Equipment like forklifts and pallet jacks is vital when it comes to unloading shipments and moving items within the warehouse. If the equipment is out of service, these tasks become nearly impossible.
- Inconsistent Processes — The warehouses that achieve fast and consistent dock to stock cycle times are generally those with well-designed processes.
- Outdated Technology — Failing to take advantage of the latest technology solutions available can result in unnecessary errors and delays in moving items to inventory.
- Weak Vendor Relationships — When your shipments aren’t arriving as scheduled or items in the containers are missing or damaged, this can significantly impact your dock to stock operations.
How to Improve Your Dock to Stock Processes
If you’ve determined that your dock to stock processes could use an overhaul, here are some proven ways to get your warehouse back on track:
1. Dock to Stock Process Creation
You can improve your dock to stock results by having the proper procedures and strategies in place. For example, you can require Advanced Shipping Notifications (ASNs) from vendors so you know what’s coming into your warehouse. You can also set up quality assurance and inspection processes to streamline the verification of product quality and order accuracy.
2. Workforce Training
Employee training is critical for overall efficiency. It ensures your workers understand the dock to stock process. A well-train team can improve overall handling time and reduce errors. In addition to initial training sessions, make sure you offer periodic and refresher training for employees.
3. Warehouse Optimization
Warehouse space isn’t cheap. Maximizing the utility of the space you have is vital for the dock to stock process. For example, you can use pallet racks or shelving units to enable more product storage in less space. These solutions also simplify the movement of goods with equipment.
4. Equipment Maintenance & Upgrades
Another way to avoid bottlenecks is to make sure you don’t have essential equipment out of service. Create strict equipment maintenance schedules and upgrade equipment that is out-of-date. In some cases, it may make sense to implement automation solutions, such as replacing a pallet jack with an automated guided vehicle.
5. Technology Integration
Technology, like RFID tags and automation solutions, plays a key role in this phase of warehouse operations. For example, using RFID tags instead of scanners will enable real-time visibility of product movement and automatic recording of inventory figures. You will still need workers to perform goods inspections to verify quality, however.
Focusing on your dock to stock strategy is just one of the ways your warehouse can reduce or eliminate bottlenecks. When you embrace these concepts and combine them with the right technology solutions, your warehouse can enhance process efficiency, reduce errors, and improve overall visibility.
|
10 Tips to Improve Your Warehouse Receiving Process |
