A Solution for Cross-docking Operations Planning, Scheduling and Coordination

Abstract

Crossdocking is defined as an operational strategy that moves items through consolidation centers or cross docks without putting them into storage. As the need to move inventory faster increases, more logistics managers are turning to crossdocking but the ability to execute such strategy well depends on good planning, dynamic scheduling and coordina-tion. This paper introduces our research and development work on cross docking solution in three aspects: optimized planning on container grouping, clustering, sequencing and allocating containers to docks; real-time scheduling handles the dynamics of container arrivals and actual pallet transfers; and cross-docking coordination conducts real-time task assignment/sequencing and resource management to deal with dynamic changes.