It is common, once in a while, to see trucks waiting in long lines to load or unload their shipments at warehouse docks, resulting in lost time and frustrations from both drivers and warehouses’ workforce.
However, during the COVID-19 crisis – triggered also by the higher demand of pharmaceutical and medical goods – warehouses have seen an increase in the number of trucks waiting in line at their docks. And what is worse: they are struggling to decide on how to solve this and how to prioritize loads in crucial times like a health crisis.
According to a recent survey conducted by the Institute for Supply Management, most businesses across the globe have already reported experiencing delays in ports, on the road, and at warehouses as part of the pandemic impact on their supply chain.
And while COVID-19 presents an unprecedented situation for our society and the transport industry, fluctuations in demand often happen throughout the year and present similar challenges at warehouses. The current crisis has only highlighted the need to plan better and get prepared for unexpected increases in volume at warehouses.
Manual scheduling is prone to error and highly time-consuming. That is why Alpega’s Smart Booking software’s primary goal is to put an end to stressful situations in your warehouses and improve productivity by automating your scheduling process.
Smart Booking provides all parties involved with visibility of the warehouse, load information, availability of the docks, and the resources required to handle each specific load. With all those factors in mind, the software proposes the perfect timeslot to the carrier, ensuring an efficient process for everyone and reducing administrative time. Inbound and outbound carriers can book their slots and get notified of changes, reducing the workload for warehouse employees.
The cloud-based tool, designed in close collaboration with supply chain partners, is easy to implement and can be used as a stand-alone application or as part of your end-to-end Alpega TMS.
“It was a massive success in a very short period. It immediately dealt with congestion, because carriers had a real expectation of when they could be unloaded or when they could collect a load.” Said Wayne Boone, European Logistics Manager at Ball Beverage Packaging Europe.
Get started now and reduce the pressure at your warehouses with an Alpega TMS solution!
