The average warehouse receives, counts, and inspects thousands of items of varying shapes and sizes from hundreds of vendors whose picking, packing, and shipping practices are all different. It is not surprising that receiving can be one of the most complicated functions of warehouse processes. Errors in receiving, unlike most other errors in your warehouse, have a ripple effect. If you cannot get your receiving process running smoothly, you will run into near-future scenarios where product will be sitting on your receiving dock, or on pallets in a corner. Your pickers will waste time looking for them.

Directions:

1. List five factors to determine put-away locations for a retail store warehouse. Justify your choice of factors.
2. How does Cross-docking help to reduce operating costs for a warehouse? Describe two key activities involved in the cross-docking process in a Walmart distribution centre where products are received in bulk from suppliers and are grouped and distributed in smaller quantities to the retail stores.
3. Describe the term cross-docking. Cross-dock centres remove two of the fundamental warehouse activities. What are they and what enables cross-dock centres to omit these activities?