Most warehouses use the time the trailer leaves to sequence picking, etc.  It all makes sense in a perfect world….but we know that we all try to pick and load ahead.  And we know that this creates problems as inbound inventory may not have arrived yet, or the staging area may be full.  It is tough for planners to consider these barriers – so instead of creating a different schedule, they defer to the dock schedule, which is generally the time the load has to leave.

This can waste a lot of time and money as inventory connections are missed, so the load is tied up waiting for those last-minute items that will help avoid OTIF fines.  Warehouse management systems (WMS) provide little help.  And TMS looks for an open live-load slot in the schedule rather than finding the “best” time for the operation.

Who wants to help me change this?