Descartes Dock

Appointment Scheduling

Solution Area

Optimize Receiving Operations for Inbound Transportation Management

Shipments to Distribution Centers and Warehouses

About the Product Descartes Dock Appointment Scheduling is a collaborative tool that enables carriers, suppliers, and distribution center personnel to create and approve dock door appointments. It streamlines the process by distributing scheduling responsibilities from the warehouse to carriers and suppliers, ensuring all supply chain partners have visibility into requested, scheduled, and rescheduled dock appointments.

TOP BENEFITS

• Improved Inventory Turn
• Effective Planning and Resource Utilization
• Increased Warehouse Efficiency

Seamless Integration with TMS and WMS Systems

Integrating Descartes Dock Appointment Scheduling with other Descartes or third-party transportation solutions enables carriers to simultaneously accept tenders and book appointments, automatically assign doors for both inbound/outbound loads, and plan routes based on door availability. Integration with WMS allows customers to electronically prepare receiving activities and allocate physical resources to unload, validate, and accept shipments into either their DC or cross dock.

FEATURES

• Standing appointments can be created for high volume carriers/suppliers with regular deliveries to ensure consistency.
• Online Appointment Scheduling: Carriers and vendors can book dock appointments via the Web and monitor the status in real time.
• Appointment Audit Trail: An electronic history of all appointment changes and related communication can be easily accessed by carriers and vendors.
• Milestone Notifications

BENEFITS

• Optimized Hours of Service: Wait times for load/unload activities, return trips, and detention charges are minimized with better warehouse traffic management.
• Advanced Shipment Visibility: Greater visibility into inbound shipments helps companies better manage inventory levels.
• Enhanced Partner Collaboration: Compliance and performance metrics can be shared with trading partners to negotiate more cost-efficient contracts.