Cross Docking

The role of warehousing in the process must not delay products time delivery but contribute to the products safety. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), provides a set of rules that warehouses must abide by to make them offer services as per prescribed standards. Warehouses can be owned by the organization, public or privately but the supply chain, which requires the services of warehouses. Demand for extra warehousing facilities due to unforeseen circumstances such as damage and warehousing restructuring must not lower the quality of services delivery.

Warehousing performance must be improved by initializing a number of strategies. Storage of goods and products in pallets form will reduce the time involved in loading and offloading. Pallets storage method involves a number of storage methods that enable warehouse to make efficient use of space available. Cross docking technique is a cost and time effective process in warehousing. It involves direct delivery of products to the customer. It comes with a number of added advantages such as the reduction of material handling.

Products that are subjected to long periods of handling may have their quality compromised by the time they reach the customer. Cross-docking minimizes such instances and eliminates the need for storage. Products such as pharmaceutical materials, drugs, perishable goods are best delivered directly to the customer (Cunningham, 2001). This is because they are not only fragile but also cannot sustain long periods of handling. Their quality is thus best maintained when they are cross-docked. Organizations that lack warehousing capacity are best suited in making use of this technique.

Firms can make use of less than truck-load techniques to improve on supply chain management. Supply chain system involve instances where products are transported using various modes of transit such as air, water, road and rail. Applying road as a mode of transport in ferrying goods is beneficial and cost effective. Road trucks do not need time-tables to transport materials as in the case of air and rail modes. It therefore saves valuable time and reduces safety risks associated with long delays.

The less than truckload (LTL) is therefore important in enhancing quality service delivery. A shift from traditional and conventional methods of manufacturing to lean manufacturing is a notable innovation that has enriched efficiency in supply chain management. The concept of lean manufacturing is an innovative product system born out of Toyota. Japanese car manufacturer, Toyota, acquired various techniques from the United States that minimized on waste factors of production such as labor and material. Apart from reduction in wastes, lean manufacturing also enhances quality.

Principles of lean manufacturing such as sourcing raw materials from close locations on manufacturing and production of quality products on sites that are closer to customers ensures reductions in related costs and time (Gonzalez, Monge & Rao, 2006). Lean manufacturing optimize human resource, makes use of cheap and ensures high quality service delivery. The combined effect is a complete exploitation of few resources for greater rewards in profits and bonuses. Manufacturers that adopt lean manufacturing in supply chain management systems therefore move closer to competitive advantage.

The introduction of tactical chain management systems and tactical planning for supply management are vital techniques to companies in satisfying customer demands. Techniques and management planning systems that adopt technology as a tool have higher chances of satisfying customer demands. The process of tactical planning in supply chain involves taking into consideration advances in technology that are best suited to dealing with enforceable future challenges. Such innovative approaches in supply chain management eliminate risks of failure to satisfy customer demands that translates to loss of business.