Cross-doking as Strategy to Minimize Most

Cross-docking enables Wal-Mart to achieve the economies that

come with purchasing full truckloads of goods while avoiding the
usual inventory and handling costs. But what is cross doking and how does
it benefit business? Cross-docking is a lean supply chain model that involves
the immediate or faster transfer of finished goods directly from suppliers or
manufacturers to customers or retailers with little to no handling or storage
(e.g., stopping a truck at a distribution center to put it on another truck
without storing the inventory inside the warehouse). This enables faster
replenishment, reduced middle- and last-mile shipping costs by positioning
inventory closer to the end customer (e.g., using a distributed
inventory model), and better servicing of your end customers. In most cases,
finished goods are unloaded from the incoming transport (from the
supplier) into the inbound dock, sorted and consolidated at the cross-
docking terminal, and promptly loaded onto an outgoing vehicle (to the
customer or retailer) at the outbound dock. This saves time and labor at the
receiving dock and helps get the inventory on to the next leg of its trip. 
Benefits of cross-docking

1. Faster shipping & receiving times.

2. Reduced costs and time savings.
3. Provides a central site for handling products.
4. Reduce material handling.