To be effective, retail supply chains must be efficient, fast, and cost-friendly. Cross-docking is a useful solution that helps contribute to all these components, drastically improving how a supply chain operates.
C&M Transport, with headquarters in Painesville, OH, and 17 locations across the nation, specializes in superior 3PL management and premium expedited services for businesses, earning us a prestigious reputation in the industry. Included in our services is cross-docking coordination, making sure shipments are unloaded directly from one truck to the next without a lot of downtime. Here, we explain what cross-docking is and why it can be beneficial for your company.
What Is Cross-Docking?
Business owners and managers are continuously looking for ways to improve overall operations. That’s why so many choose to employ a lean supply chain model. This approach entails delivering a product to the end customer in the most efficient way while generating the least amount of waste. Ultimately, the reduction of unnecessary elements and steps helps achieve a more efficient system, from manufacturing to the delivery of the end product.
Cross-docking directly contributes to a lean supply chain model through a faster transfer of goods to customers with little to no handling or storage. In many cases, the cross-docking process involves unloading the incoming transport from the supplier, sorting and consolidating items at the cross-docking terminal, and promptly loading all goods onto the outgoing vehicles for delivery.
The Benefits of Cross-Docking
The primary advantage of cross-docking is that it enables businesses to achieve a leaner supply chain. But the approach delivers other benefits, as well. When using cross-docking to accelerate their order fulfillment process, companies can expect the following rewards:
Increased Savings
Cross-docking offers businesses the luxury of not needing an extensive warehouse to get a product to their customers as it makes for a more efficient inventory management system. More so, the demand for labor goes down, potentially helping businesses further reduce costs and save time.
A Reduction in Material Handling
Because there is less need to track movement, facilitate storage, and manage products, cross-docking operations deliver the benefit of reduced material handling. This can be especially helpful for companies that sell items that must maintain quality, such as perishable goods such as fresh food and beverages. High-quality products also benefit from cross-docking methods as the chance of a product being mishandled, and therefore damaged, is lowered.
Faster Shipping and Receiving Times
With the need for labor to store products all but eliminated, goods can reach their final destination much faster when companies opt to utilize a cross-docking method. What’s more, cross-docking only requires accounting for inventory being received and then shipped rather than needing to be scanned into a warehouse management system. This makes the process much less complex, and consequently faster.
Cross-Docking Experts at C&M Transport
Eliminate the time shipments sit idle in a warehouse when you opt for cross-docking services offered by the order fulfillment experts at C&M Transport. Although we are based in Painesville, Ohio, we have 17 locations throughout the country, allowing us to provide premium services wherever your business is and wherever you need goods shipped.
Specializing in assisting small and medium-sized businesses, our services include air charter transportation, freight-forwarding, and cross-docking. Using specialized equipment and advanced knowledge of the industry, we can help eliminate downtime with order fulfillment, and can even deliver straight to your customers. Those interested in learning more about our third-party logistics company should contact us today at C&M Transport.