This is crossdock scanning

DFDS Wijchen’s top priority remains unchanged: introducing better, smarter, and more efficient concepts to the market. One of the most recent innovations at DFDS Wijchen’s warehouses is crossdock scanning. This new technology allows us to optimise our crossdocking services and thereby minimise error margins, improve throughput, and drastically expand process registration. DFDS Wijchen delivers!


Here’s how it works

In crossdock scanning, every trailer, loading and unloading dock, and crossdock lane is given a unique barcode. The crossdock employees at Huisman, called crossdockers, are equipped with a hand scanner. With computerised control and support from the planning department, the crossdocker scans the manifest of a shipment. The manifest then appears immediately on the scanner. Next, the crossdocker scans the dock and the trailer as a last check before the real work begins.

Labelling and scanning

Armed with the scanner, the digital manifest, and the associated labels, the crossdocker unloads the first pallet from the trailer. The pallet is then labelled, scanned, and placed in a crossdock lane that is also scanned. These steps are repeated until the trailer is empty. In the meantime, everything is digitally registered in Huisman’s Transport Management System (TMS).

Error-free handling and loading

Now all the pallets are stacked neatly in the crossdock, waiting to be loaded again. Once again, the planning department sends the crossdockers a manifest for that purpose. By scanning the dock, it immediately becomes clear which pallets are intended for the trailer and in which lane they are located. The system even specifies in which order the pallets should be loaded. Have all the pallets been loaded into the trailer? Then the crossdocker as well as the planner are given the green light, and the driver is sent on his way.

The advantages

• Track-and-trace functionality from the unloading/loading process until the final destination via the DFDS Wijchen web portal.
• The TMS shows which goods are present in Wijchen, which are in transport, and which are on the crossdock with our colleagues in the UK.
• We know exactly which employees have unloaded and loaded which goods.
• Pallets that are held for a longer period of time are moved to a neutral zone. Via the TMS, we can always find out which goods have been moved and why.
• This information enables us to deliver better performance and to help you increase your competitive edge in your own market.

Would you like to know more about crossdock scanning? Feel free to contact DFDS Wijchen!