Learn More About Conduit's Dock Scheduling, Yard, and Gate Solutions
FAQs
What is dock scheduling and appointment software?
Dock scheduling software, which is used to book appointments with warehouses, drastically improves efficiency at any facility receiving inbound shipments from vendors or sending outbound shipments to customers. Spreadsheets, phone calls, and manually replying to emails for booking appointments are all eliminated, as Conduit uses your load types, configured dock doors, labor capacity and concurrency to assess whether a dock is available for an appointment. Carriers are able to visit Conduit’s online portal to book directly with your facility, saving the hassle of needing to take the phone call and enter it into your appointment tracking spreadsheet and calendar. Facility operators have full control as to whether to accept, reject, or reschedule an appointment. Carriers and drivers upon arrival are ushered through Conduit’s check-in system, that covers everything from BOL upload, driver license verification and storage, to online text messaging for communicating with a driver throughout. Facilities and customers include manufacturing plants, warehouses, distribution centers, fulfillment centers, freight forwarders, 3PLs, and retailers.
How can I be sure I will benefit from Conduit’s dock scheduling and appointment software?
If you have struggled with any of the challenges below, Conduit’s dock scheduling software will help you increase the efficiency, throughput, and profitability of your operations. Eliminate unnecessary calls and emails: Instead of having to constantly answer calls from Carriers, Vendors, and Customers to book appointments, they can all book appointments directly through your facility’s portal. You have full control over whether you accept, reject, or reschedule an appointment. Eliminate spreadsheets and multiple sources of truth for your appointment calendar: Any changes made by your carriers or yourself are instantly propagated throughout your system. Your calendar will update your online booking portal to open up any rescheduled slots, any changes to appointments will be sent to carriers and warehouse staff via email and drivers via text, and docks will marked as occupied and available as drivers move through the check-in and check-out flow. Minimize detention charges, demurrage charges, and no shows: From time of first check-in to check-out, each stage of the journey from driver arrival, start of unloading inbound shipments or loading outbound shipments, end of loading, and final check-out is tracked and available in our workflow views and data dashboard. You have all the evidence you need to ensure carriers are held accountable when in the wrong. For no shows, we automatically send reminders to carriers of their appointment and to update any pending ETA. Plan labor effectively for the week: Conduit’s calendar and workflow views of warehouse appointments give the perfect overview for optimizing dock appointment times for the most throughput with the least labor and hours. Never feel overstaffed or understaffed again while managing your warehouse labor. Manage check-in and communicate seamlessly with drivers all from your desktop: Drivers never need to come inside as our QR-code check-in process enables them to check-in right at your triage location for dock assignemnt. You will be alerted of their arrival, phone number and name, and any BOLs or drivers licenses that need to uploaded for verification. Simultaneously, Conduit texts the driver to inform them of any dock assignment or reassignment, and you may send messages directly to the driver’s phone number via Conduit’s website to alert them to any changes or requirements. Track and visualize your warehouse’s performance and increase efficiency: You can only improve what you measure. And our best-in-class data visualization dashboards inform you of how often carriers / drivers are on time, how fast check-in and check-out is, forklift operator efficiency, and where time and thus money can be saved and optimized.
How does dock scheduling and appointment software differ from a Warehouse Management System (WMS)?
A Warehouse Management System most often concerns itself with receiving, put-away, storage, counting & stocking, replenishment, picking, packing, and shipping. Dock scheduling software like Conduit handles much of the process of receiving and shipping, including setting appointments for carriers to arrive, which dock to unload inbound shipments or load outbound shipments at, which forklift operator is assigned, unloading and loading start and end times, and driver notifications when unloading or loading is complete and the driver is free to depart. There is also some overlap with Yard Management Systems (YMS), where Yard Management software generally covers all aspects of a facility’s external yard management and coordination. This can include asset and inventory tracking, drop trailer tracking, yard jockey tasks, dock scheduling and management, gate entry security, and warehouse yard visualization. Because dock scheduling software is where the external yard meets the interior, it often serves as the glue between a good Warehouse Management solution and Yard Management Software.
Is it required for me to have a Warehouse Management System (WMS), Transportation Management System (TMS), or Yard Management System (YMS) to benefit from dock scheduling and appointment software?
No. Conduit’s warehouse appointment software is a standalone product and does not require any other software to provide enormous value to your organization by eliminating spreadsheets, centralizing bookings and your appointment calendar, and seamlessly tracking check-in to minimize no shows, detention fees, and demurrage fees. If you do not already have Yard Management Software, our enterprise product also provides a beta YMS for tracking trailers end to end, including estimated time of arrival, gate entry, and drop trailer loads in the yard. It effortlessly integrates with our dock scheduling software, empowering you to keep all information in a single place.
Can Conduit’s dock scheduling and appointment software integrate with my pre-existing WMS, TMS, or YMS?
Yes. We already provide integrations to our customers with the most popular Warehouse Management Systems, Transportation Management Systems, and Yard Management Systems. If you have a WMS, TMS, or YMS we do not currently support, our API has been built to easily scale to other systems and we are happy to provide custom integrations that will most benefit your organization.
How long does Conduit's dock scheduling software take to set up?
Setup takes just 15 minutes. We will assist you through every step of the process.
I have multiple facilities. Can Conduit give me supply chain visiblity across all of them?
Of course. Conduit gives you visibility into shipping, receiving, delays, and more across all of your facilities in one place. It's perfect for third party logistics (3PL) warehouses or centralized transportation and logistics teams. We also support manufacturing plants, distribution centers, freight-forwarding warehouses, and retail outlets.
Are there APIs for vendors, brokers, and carriers to manage dock appointments?
Yes, our APIs are based on the industry standards and are extremely easy to use.
How do carriers, drivers, vendors, and brokers like scheduling warehouse appointments online with Conduit?
It's free for them. They don't need to create an account. No app downloads are needed either. There's many advantages for them and our customers regularly pass along great feedback to us about how much their carriers like Conduit.