《Warehouse Management - How to be a lean mean cross-docking machine》.doc

Warehouse Management - How to be a lean, mean cross-docking machine Thinking about adding cross docking to your operation? A materials handling engineer explains what changes you’ll need to make. By Maida Napolitano, Contributing Editor -- Logistics Management, 1/1/2007 Today’s “lean” warehousing managers are trimming the fat by eliminating unnecessary tasks and by improving value-added activities. One strategy they frequently adopt is cross docking, the practice of expediting the flow of product from receiving to shipping with a minimum of handling in between. Although cross docking has become something of a buzzword lately, it’s a strategy that has been around for decades. Why rehash an old practice? Because cross docking helps shippers address specific business needs that are more important today than ever. A Little Product, A Lot of Savings First, cross docking accelerates speed to market by routing items to their end destinations as soon as they are received. “Our cross-docked items literally spend zero time on the warehouse floor,” reports Steve Avila, shipping and receiving traffic manager at Emulex Corporation, a manufacturer of computer hardware that cross docks about 85 percent of its shipping volume. “They go in one door and immediately out the other,” he says. Cross docking also improves the bottom line. Because product is not sent into inventory, companies that cross dock reduce their storage requirements and consequently eliminate storage-related labor and inventory costs. McCain Foods USA Inc., which manufactures nearly one-third of all french-fried potatoes produced internationally, has been cross docking its high-volume, fast movers for more than a year. Director of Warehousing Timothy Egan saw the benefits firsthand. “We saved twenty to thirty percent in total warehouse costs by not sending product into storage. And that’s with just one percent of our total SKUs (stock-keeping units) being cross docked,” he explains Finally, cross docking allows