Cross-docking is alogistical practice ofJust-In-Time Scheduling where materials are delivered directly from a manufacturer or a mode of transportation to a customer or another mode of transportation. Cross-docking often aims to minimize overheads related tostoring goods between shipments or while awaiting a customer's order.[1] This may be done to change the type of conveyance, to sort material intended for different destinations, or to combine material from different origins into transport vehicles (or containers) with the same or similar destinations.
Cross-docking takes place in a distribution docking terminal; usually consisting of trucks and dock doors on two (inbound and outbound) sides with minimal storage space.[2]
In theLTL trucking industry, cross-docking is done by moving cargo from one transport vehicle directly onto another, with minimal or nowarehousing. In retail practice, cross-docking operations may utilize staging areas where inbound materials are sorted, consolidated, and stored until the outbound shipment is complete and ready to ship.
Cross-dock operations were pioneered in the US trucking industry in the 1930s[citation needed], and have been in continuous use inless-than-truckload operations ever since. The US military began using cross-docking operations in the 1950s. Wal-Mart began using cross-docking in the retail sector in the late 1980s.
As of 2014 almost half of all US warehouses are cross-docking.[3]
Perishable goods – These are products that are time sensitive like agricultural products and require instant shipping. Other products that useLast In First Out inventory management method may also apply cross docking.[7]
Staple products – Staple products like staple food, clothes always have a high demand and go through a less storage time. Businesses with these types of products may include them in their cross docking model to reduce storage costs.
Promotional items – Cross-docking comes in handy for eCommerce platforms that have clearance sale programs.
Cross-dock facilities are generally designed in an "I" configuration, which is an elongated rectangle. The goal in using this shape is to maximize the number of inbound and outbound doors that can be added to the facility while keeping the floor area inside the facility to a minimum. Bartholdi and Gue (2004) demonstrated that this shape is ideal for facilities with 150 doors or less. For facilities with 150–200 doors, a "T" shape is more cost effective. Finally, for facilities with 200 or more doors, the cost-minimizing shape is an "X".[8]
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^Álvarez-Pérez, González-Velarde, Fowler.Crossdocking— Just in Time scheduling: an alternative solution approach. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 2009.
^abcdMoody, K. (2019). Labour and the contradictory logic of logistics. Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation, 13(1), 79-95. doi:10.13169/workorgalaboglob.13.1.0079
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