The tasks related to warehouse slot management aim at reducing congestion and waiting times at the warehouses’ docks, tackling production bottlenecks, and controlling unnecessary costs caused by a lack of coordination between shippers and carriers.
Slot management provides both parties with the possibility to schedule appointments to load or unload at the docks, keeping in mind information such as supply volume, loading point capacity, production requirements, storage capacity, shipment priority, and the status of shipping material & resources. The more information known, the better the optimization can be.
Imagine organizing your warehouse daily planning on an excel sheet, having to take all these factors into account for every single appointment, and have to communicate with each carrier by phone or e-mail. Manual scheduling is prone to error, and unforeseen circumstances such as traffic, weather conditions, or an accident can negatively impact your planning and bring chaos into your warehouse.
Software focusing on the optimization of slot booking management for inbound and outbound shipments takes into account all these variables and automatically optimizes the booking of appointments between shippers and carriers. Thanks to features like API driven infrastructure, previously collected data and real-time visibility of the warehouse, slot booking, and dock scheduling is now easier than ever. All parties involved are informed of the changes, avoiding frustrations or inefficient waiting times.
Some of the most advanced software solutions for slot booking, like Smart Booking from Alpega, include industry-specific features that optimize the processes, adding insights from similar shipments to fine-tune the loading or unloading time needed or indicate special equipment.
