Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Understanding A Docking Operation With International Freight Forwarders Canada

By Frank Baker


Imagine that you are currently planning an impromptu ski trip. Since you live in a hot and tropical climate, there are no stores to buy thermal clothes. You definitely do not want to arrive in your shorts and then go buy warm clothes. No problem. You simply log onto your smartphone or laptop and shop online. By simply entering your card details on an online shopping site, you can have a weeks worth of all the latest and warmest ski gear, delivered within 5 working days at your front door. This is due to International Freight Forwarders Canada.

The cross-docking operation is an efficient way to move goods from producer to merchandiser or consumer. Goods arrive at a docking station via a truck, for instance, and offloaded. During the offloading procedure, the parcels go through a quality check and are then sorted into categories for delivery. They are then loaded onto a conveyor belt headed to the outbound truck. The outbound truck is loaded and moves out for delivery to the customer.

The overall benefit for cross-docking operations is improved efficiency. It saves the consumer and merchandiser time and money. There is little risk in the handling of products. The consumer is satisfied because they received their product at their front door within an excellent turnaround time. The warehouse space needed to store products is also reduced.

The only cons to consider is that once the parcel leaves the merchandiser there is little visibility of his product. Sometimes goods are misplaced or orders even duplicated. For this, there needs to be a system, which allows the merchandiser and even the consumer a visible tracking system. Then one also needs to keep records of all the goods and their movement so that there are auditable records available. This requires a lot of accurate administration. Then there needs to be compliance. An effective system that ensures all the above procedures are followed on a daily basis, maintaining accuracy and avoiding error.

As for the merchandise, now that he has extra time and money on his hands he may need to make frequent deposits at the bank.

This explains how it is often the same cost or sometimes even more affordable to purchase products online than buying in store. When products are kept in store, there is still the cost of rent and labor. Having said that, the store itself has also saved costs on warehouse storage, because with this system the products are delivered straight to their stores instead of them having to pay for warehouse storage.

It s interesting to consider the future of this system. Businessmen are always looking at ways to increase sales, speed, and efficiency. Perhaps the next stage will be a similar system but in the air. With the birth of drones, there is petrol to be saved and again also labor. It s easy to imagine that drones will be flying through the sky delivering parcels straight to your front door. Although there are other variables to consider here such as strong weather conditions.

Anyway, it is safe to say that the logistics of ordering and delivering has become increasingly popular and convenient for all parties involved.




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