Plan an intelligent goods inbound process by using dynamic appointment scheduling and notification.
Who has not experienced this: The daily routine at the gate and loading points is altered quite often by unforeseeable events, such as delayed trucks or urgent spontaneous shipments. Only one event is enough to upset the planned course of truck dispatch
The topic of “goods receipt notification” in connection with time slot management tends to be neglected in logistics chains. Wrongly so, in our opinion! Considerable cost savings can be achieved if waiting times or traffic jams are avoidedby a coordinated and intelligent inbound and outbound.
In most cases, the argumentation of the goods receipt notification, which usually tends to take a back seat, aims to ensure that a not so precisely planned goods receipt with adequate storage capacity can be compensated for. Or that delivery dates at the customer’s premises are rarely directly dependent on punctual goods receipts. This argumentation does not go far enough:
- Many of the ramps used for loading are at least partially the same ramps that are used for shipping.
- Should the incoming articles be shipped directly to the end customer only a little later than planned, a late receipt of goods would certainly have an impact on the delivery date.
- Faulty parts, which are critical for production, are also not taken into account in the absence of delivery notification.
- Incoming goods notification via EDI (DESADV) is not always possible with all suppliers. The scheduling of these deliveries is often a (cost-intensive) manual process.
Agile charging points - yes we can:
How long unloading processes take depends on the quantity. The length of the time slot is also dependent on this. With an optimized appointment scheduling and allocation, the truck inflow can be controlled in such a way that throughput times can be significantly reduced and loading point capacities can be used more efficiently.
myleo / dsc offers a function with which external service providers can announce deliveries to the customer and schedule a suitable time slot. The user is guided simply and intuitively through the process. Service providers not only have the option of partial notification but can also combine and display several orders in one delivery. Following a notification, the user enters the myleo / slot in order to schedule a time slot for the notified quantity, directly at the designated gate and within the designated period. The length of the appointment is determined dynamically based on the notified order quantity.
Consequently, the incoming goods department has a better overview of which items have already been delivered and which are still pending.
Providing notification and integration with myleo / slot not only minimizes communication and time expenditure at this point, but also creates more transparency for all parties in the process involved.
How an ideal planning process for your loading point may look like
- The supplier receives access to the online platform via his customer, through which an exchange of orders, notifications and time slot information takes place. This is done fast and simple by invitation.
- The client creates orders manually on the platform or uploads them automatically via interface, e. g. from his SAP system.
- This order can be activated in real time using the stored supplier number, which was created as a separate team in the platform.
- The supplier can view the order directly on the platform and give notice of all or part of the order. This includes information about which item is supplied in which quantity and when the delivery time is scheduled.
- The application constantly monitors the utilization of the unloading points and only offers time slots if they are available. Don't worry, the client retains control of the appointment scheduling. With the optional suggestion function, your suppliers are only allowed to suggest time windows that have to be confirmed by you.
- The warehouse can see how high the daily workload at the gates will be and can flexibly schedule personnel and machines accordingly.
Is this the end of the line?
Versatile platforms provide the following basic scope and can be further expanded according to client’s requirements or scenarios:
- The system monitors which delivery time slots matches the order, e. g. how long after the desired delivery date an appointment scheduling may be possible altogether.
- The system also monitors where the notification may be issued should all ramps not always be available for the same items. This information can be derived, for example, from the plant/storage location combination of an SAP purchase order.
- The notified containers can also reduce the available time windows if, for example, only complete loads are booked in the morning. Should the warehouse not be able to keep up with clearing the area, even the best gate availability will not help. For this reason, secondary conditions have been used, which, for example, cover the number of pallets per shift. This makes the appointment scheduling "two-dimensional" so to speak.
- A freely configurable set of rules also monitors how long the scheduled appointment should actually last, because the unloading time usually depends on the supplier, the number of containers delivered, the delivery day or even the delivery time. Staff break times can be taken into account, for example.
- If the supplier or his forwarder is willing to share telematic data for notification, it is possible to have a real-time delivery timeline based on the route and the current location of the truck, as well as the traffic and weather conditions. The warehouse has thus gained even more flexibility, as it can now plan ahead with greater foresight.
- Yard control is integrated so that each incoming transport follows a defined process through the factory site (yard). The management of parking spaces and also the current, actual occupation of the gates play a role here.
- Furthermore, integrated yard processes would make it possible to obtain an evaluation as to which supplier regularly arrives on time or too late or too early.
- Machine learning allows to derive ever better estimates for future appointment scheduling based on past actual unloading times. In the end, these forecast models can render static sets of rules obsolete, no matter how much flexibility they may offer.
The future is now
Planning logistical processes between several partners has always been a challenge and will likely continue to be so.
However, logistics platforms offer the opportunity to reduce this challenge in a way that everyone joins forces. The potential of networking suppliers, forwarders and their customers is beyond the mere networking of systems. If employees, regardless of their role, can see the information they need for their work on an integrated logistics platform, the foundation for improved collaboration is established. If this logistics platform also offers API access, then nothing stands in the way of integration with the warehouse management system, for example.
If this platform also allows price models based on the processed notifications, regardless of the number of users involved, the use of such a solution can be planned much more precisely in terms of investment.
We support you in making your operational processes more connected, more transparent and more cost-saving, thus improving your supply chains. Find out more about the quick to implement applications of our logistics platform myleo /dsc!
If you have questions about this or other topics in the blog, please contact blog@leogistics.com.
Uwe Kunath
Development Architect
