# Dock Appointment Scheduling

Descartes Dock appointment scheduling improves your operations by assigning carriers and suppliers the responsibility of scheduling warehouse deliveries or pickups.

## Why use a Dock Appointment Scheduling solution?

To optimise your receiving operations for [inbound shipments](https://routinguk.descartes.com/resources/what-is-transportation-management-software-tms) and help coordinate outbound pickups, you must make sure all supply chain partners are involved in the process and have visibility into requested, scheduled, and rescheduled dock appointment slots. This will ensure a steady flow of goods in and out and eliminate the typical peaks and troughs associated with allowing vehicles to arrive at the warehouse at any time.

The [Dock Appointment Scheduling module](https://routinguk.descartes.com/media/transfer/doc/ps_descartes_dock_appointment_scheduling_uk.pdf) allows you to model all relevant constraints:

- Number of dock doors
- DC hours and labour resources
- Unload time by product type etc.

Suppliers can then request a dock appointment window for their delivery by logging onto a web portal. The system will automatically determine the amount of time needed based on your rules and the proposed time, or suggest alternatives. Your team can view all of the appointments using a web-based visual interface and make straightforward drag-and-drop manual overrides as they see fit.

With the system in place, carriers can book appointment slots and arrival times are confirmed on arrival, normally by the gate guard.

Your managers can generate reports that include carrier-specific no-show rates as well as on-time performance.

## Features & Benefits

### Online appointment scheduling

Carriers can book their own delivery slots over the internet, based on your criteria.

- Reduced waiting times.

### Appointment audit trail

All edits and changes are tracked simplifying any potential disputes over arrival times.

### Email notifications to carriers and vendors

Easy notification if you make a change to the original appointment, if there are damages detected or there is a no-show.

### Recurring appointments

Regular or high volume suppliers can ensure consistency of appointments - windows can be block booked out for public holidays or regular staff breaks.

### Optimised hours of service

A smoothed schedule of deliveries improves utilisation of resources and warehouse efficiency while wait times and charges are reduced. An additional environmental impact is gained through reduced idling and wait times.

### Visibility of inbound shipments

Improved management of inventory levels and lead times.

### Cloud-based software

Our fleet route scheduling Software is available over the internet wherever you have a connection, providing team access to our solution, working from any location at any time.

## What is Dock Scheduling?

**Dock scheduling** is the use of software for the optimisation and scheduling of your warehouse dock bay doors and yard schedules.

A DAS solution will maintain a calendar, showing all your operating constraints, such as opening/closing times, which commodities can be accepted through which dock door (e.g., refrigerated or ambient) and the trailer types that can be accepted. Advanced dock scheduling systems such as the Descartes solution can also consider other transportation or upstream constraints such as labour and other warehouse resources e.g. forklift truck availability.

### Customer Successes

“With the Descartes solution, we now have real-time visibility into deliveries as they are made—and proof of delivery when customers receive their orders,”  
Nicholas Chesna - Fleet Assistant Manager

- On-time delivery has improved
- Real time visibility of deliveries
- Great delivery capacity

“Descartes Reservations™ and Route Planner™ solutions were integral to our strategy of offering a more extensive, but unified delivery service. The advanced optimisation capabilities and architecture of the Descartes solutions were critical, bringing new delivery service options to our customers in an economically feasible way.”  
Andrew Gay - Systems Manager

- Fulfilment costs reduced £1.8m
- Increased delivery productivity 35%
- Delivery windows provided at POS

“In the past year since having the Descartes' system our jobs per route has improved by just short of 10%.”  
Martin Alldritt - Planning & Optimisation Manager

- Jobs per route has increased 9.9%
- Average mileage between jobs reduced
- Improved Customer Service

“We estimate that we've reduced our transport costs by 10% per ton delivered.”  
Frédéric Poirier - Logistics & IT Manager

- Transport costs reduced by 10%
- Optimised mix of own vehicles and third parties
- Maximised driver and vehicle utilisation

“By optimising planning, scheduling and routing, we’ve lowered our distribution costs: we’re getting more capacity out of our fleet and have reduced the number of returned loads by ensuring the right product is loaded onto the right truck.”  
Mark Parsons - Managing Director

- Reduced cost of distribution
- Increased delivery capacity
- Reduced number of returned loads