Optimal decision-making on product ranking for crossdocking/warehousing operations

The physical distribution of goods is one of the key success factors in todaypsilas fast moving markets. Many companies are involved in the search for efficient distribution alternatives, as the lead times for customer order fulfillment need to be shortened while the costs and risks of warehousing need to be minimized. Crossdocking is defined as an operation strategy that moves items through flow consolidation centers or cross docks without putting them into storage. This removes the need for distribution warehouses in the supply chain, and allows the customers to receive complete deliveries for their orders. However, not all products are suitable for crossdocking operations. In real practice, a pure crossdocking scenario is not common. A crossdocking center or distribution center is normally a combination of crossdocking and warehousing facilities. Industry needs guideline and model to support crossdocking/warehousing decision-making and to evaluate the applicability of crossdocking operations for their particular business situation. This paper presents a systematic procedure and model for the evaluation of the ranking of productpsilas suitability for crossdocking in a distribution center or crossdocking center. A prototype system based on the approach had been developed and is also introduced in the paper.