Automating and Streamlining Your Loose Case Receiving Process
It should be remembered that Receiving and Putaway operations are starting line activities and if proper attention is paid to these activities, it goes a long line in saving time, cutting costs, trimming inventory, speeding up service to customers.
Today, most product manufactures utilize automated UPC bar code print and apply case labeling methods to identify SKUs. By ceasing on that opportunity, the receiving process for the top DC performers takes on a new look.
For container and common carrier loose bar-coded carton receipts, an integrated conveyor system process can automate and streamline receiving. This practice is commonly referred to as flow-through or cross-dock and works well for many retailers, especially door-per-store operations.
Here, the product is placed on a conveyor (that extends into the receiving trailer) at the receiving dock, scanned, and electronically assigned to an outbound order/shipment. A bar-coded shipping label is automatically printed and applied to the carton. The material handling system routes the carton to the shipping sortation system. The shipping label is scanned and the product is sorted by customer and/or shipment and routed directly to the shipping dock where it is taken from the conveyor and palletized or floor-loaded directly into the shipping trailer.
Thus the handling of materials is minimized as the carton is handled once at the receiving dock and once at the shipping dock. Except for cartons which are rejected for some reason, the carton/order/shipment does not require any operator intervention within the distribution center. In addition, the inventory is never waiting for processing in the distribution center as it is on its way to the retail outlets where it will be available for sale.
Loose case product that is not needed immediately to fill orders is conveyed to the shipping sorter where the cases are scanned and automatically sorted by SKU to palletizing stations for staging and/or putaway into inventory.
Checking and inspection of case goods or full pallet loads can be limited to random audits except for vendors that have known quality issues.
The use of printer/applicators expands on the benefits that material handling equipment provides. Newer technologies also allow the systems to generate and apply labels with more data at higher throughput rates over a wider range of package sizes.
To sum up, maintaining a Competitive Receiving Operation is Key to Higher Productivity and Customer Service Levelsand as such, businesses should always be on a lookout for options which would lead to better performance and results.
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