Owlery’s appointment scheduling and dock management features are key to our superior TMS supply chain management. The Owlery platform is built for modern supply chains, enhancing communication and reducing bottlenecks with efficient scheduling and streamlined dock management for carriers, warehouse operators, and logistics providers.

As Businesses Grow, Effective Dock Management is Key to Efficient Operations

“Warehouse dock management is a critical aspect of the supply chain; it plays a role in the efficiency and success of business and freight logistics,” a First Alliance Logistics Management (FALM) blog said. “Dock management also maintains the smooth flow of goods in and out of a warehouse while minimizing delays, reducing errors, and improving worker productivity.”

Today, state-of-the-art technological tools are essential to efficient dock management.

“From dock scheduling software to real-time monitoring tools, technology streamlines operations and improves efficiency,” FALM said. “Embracing automation and digital tools can enhance your dock management processes, reduce manual errors, and increase worker productivity.”

4 Steps to Improved Dock Management with Owlery TMS

Owlery’s TMS software for shippers is a supply chain transportation management system (TMS) designed to help users embrace technology and improve dock management with just a few simple steps.

Step 1: Setting Up Facility Settings

• Every dock location is available on the Owlery facilities page. New locations can be created by simply clicking Add. To make changes to the facilities' locations, just click Edit.
• Configure appointment type, whether at a specific time or on a first-come, first-served basis on a certain day.
• Set the days open, when drivers can call. Users can choose a weekdays-only default setting or customize the schedule.
• List open and close hours to be visible to drivers. If drivers must have appointments, those can only be scheduled during open hours.
• Determine appointment length for scheduled trucks and the maximum number of daily pickups for first come, first served.
• Configure confirmation settings: automatic confirmation of all booked appointments, a limited number of auto-confirmed appointments before the facility must confirm requests, or a requirement of facility confirmation for all appointment requests.
• Select the statuses that trigger email notifications to facility contacts.

Step 2: Setting Up Docks

• In the Owlery system, docks can be added or removed as needed and named or numbered.
• The number of docks determines the total appointments allowed at a given time.
• The dock assignment function ensures trucks go to available docks, ensuring efficient usage and reducing wait times.

Step 3: Carrier Scheduling Made Easy

• Customers, carriers, and vendors can schedule dock appointments through a dedicated link, owlery.ai/schedule.
• Only a valid order/reference number is needed when booking for security and tracking purposes.

Step 4: Viewing Your Daily Schedule

• Users only need to go to Appointments in Owlery to review requested or confirmed dock appointments.
• It’s easy to switch between list and calendar views using the toggle.
• Click any appointment to view detailed information about that dock call.

Owlery Delivers Effective Dock Management Solutions

At Owlery, we help our customers achieve supply chain optimization with an end-to-end logistics-to-transportation platform that integrates and automates all aspects of freight management. Our TMS supply chain management software seamlessly integrates with other systems to provide a comprehensive solution to automate and streamline logistics processes, ensuring accurate, timely, and cost-effective operations.

Our TMS platform features include integrated quoting and tendering for any carrier and mode; centralized tracking data; configurable, real-time exceptions; in-depth reporting and analyses; prebuilt shareable scorecards; and centralized bills of lading (BOLs) and receipts.

With Owlery, no one ships alone. Our team provides assistance for all our TMS supply chain solutions, including dock management, at support@owlery.ai.

Who are you going to call for effective dock management solutions? Get started with Owlery.

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