Тікелей жеткізу және тасымалдау логистикасы: Кросс-докинг тәжірибесі

Practice in logistics of unloading directly to customer or other transportation

Cross docking is a logistical practice of Just 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 to storing goods between shipments or while awaiting a customer's order. 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. In the LTL trucking industry, cross docking is done by moving cargo from one transport vehicle directly onto another, with minimal or no warehousing. 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, and have been in continuous use in less 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.

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".