Cross-docking made easy

Cross-docking equipment helps companies meet customers' demands for quick and accurate product delivery.

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 10/1/1998

Cross-docking--the movement of goods from the receiving dock directly to the loading dock, without being stored in a warehouse or distribution center--allows companies to expedite the flow of products to their customers. To make sure this process runs smoothly, it's important that shippers choose the right equipment.

Shippers today can choose from a wide array of equipment, ranging from automatic-identification technology to carousels to dock levelers. The following is just a sample of what's currently available.

Air Technical Industries offers its detachable-drive unit, a self-propelled walk-behind drive that can be used to propel or pull any mobile equipment or cargo. The drive unit adapts to a wide variety of applications, such as towing parts to another area of the factory, pushing a scissor-lift table, or restocking and retrieving parts in a warehouse.

The detachable drive unit is battery-powered by a 24-volt d.c. operating system. Propulsion is electro-mechanically driven and a solid-state speed control permits precise positioning with the ability to gradually accelerate and decelerate traveling speed.