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CROSS-DOCKING IN LOGISTICS

Nordlogway
18 August 2021

Cross-docking is a kind of preparation of orders in which the goods are not stored or sorted onto shelves, but are distributed directly to customers. Through this strategy the goods spend very little time in warehouses after their reception.

It's a procedure which allows to save a big amount of time due to the fact that it's no longer necessary to place and sort different products in the warehouse and the process of picking can be avoided. Instead, each of the products is sent directly to different buyers.

To carry out cross-docking is necessary to do careful planning and also to strictly follow projected timelines. The process consists of the following:

1-The products arrive through correspondent shipping to the terminal and are assigned a reception dock at a cross-dock terminal.

2-Once the different goods have arrived, they are moved directly or indirectly to different outbound points with the objective of enabling their separation.

3. When the goods have arrived at their outbound destinations, they have to be unloaded, sorted and distributed in order to facilitate their identification and consequently the identification of their final destinations or delivery points.

Finally, once all the products have been sorted, they just have to be loaded into different means of transport that the logistics company is going to use to start their distribution towards the final consumers.

Cross-docking is an easily understandable procedure, but specialised structures are needed to carry it out, structures which Nordlogway has. Now that we have seen what cross-docking consists of, let's see what benefits its application brings to the logistics services of the company:

  • It allows to reduce expenses and accelerate the distribution of goods that require specific temperature.
  • It is a distribution model which increases the speed of distribution as well as profitability of the procedures.
  • Costs of storage, distribution and inventory are reduced.
  • By reducing the amount of stored stock, error margin is significantly reduced, as well as storage space in warehouses. 
  • Increases the availability of all the goods that depend on freshness or high temperature, such as some food products.
  • Allows to facilitate compliance with agreed delivery terms.
  • The company increases productivity of logistics procedures, as well as its efficiency.
  • Due to the faster distribution procedures, it also increases satisfaction of the customers related to delivery times.

As we can see, cross-docking brings a significant number of advantages to all kinds of logistics services. It is an innovative system adapted to new necessities of the market and allows to improve both the quality of the services and delivery times.

For this reason, Nordlogway, thanks to our vision of evolution and innovation, offers a totally specialised cross-docking service that can be adapted to any of the necessities our customers may have.