tion station, says Hanrahan.
An alternative to a conveyor belt system is to use lift
trucks with scales incorporated into their forks, says Stoll.
He notes that this approach is popular with operations that
place a premium on speed. “That [alternative] is mostly
used by companies that have multiple forklifts that are
moving a lot of freight fast, so they’re worried about time
constraints,” he says.
4. Right before shipping. Perhaps the most common
application of cubing and weighing systems is to collect
data on parcels immediately prior to shipping. After all,
that information is essential to determining the correct
shipping costs.
To get the most accurate reading for this purpose, it’s best
to measure the dimensional weight of the box after it’s been
sealed and labeled. This is particularly important when
shipping via parcel carriers that charge based on dimensional weight. By gathering precise dimensional data on
their packages, shippers can ensure they’re rating their
parcels correctly and avoid chargebacks or overcharges by
carriers. It is also important for less-than-truckload (LTL)
shipments because carriers often “ballpark” weights to
determine shipping costs, says Derek Jones, senior marketing product manager for Lantech, which recently began
offering a scale option for its stretch wrappers.
Even companies with private fleets that don’t have to calculate parcel shipping rates can benefit from cubing and weighing at the time outbound shipments are prepared, Stoll says.
Accurate weight and dimensional information can help them
make optimal use of the available truck space.
SUBSTANTIAL PAYBACK
To be sure, it’s possible to get dimensional weight information without using a cubing and weighing system. For
example, companies can get the data straight from the supplier, or they can manually measure and weigh the products. They also have the option of using cube calculation or
“cartonization” logic based on the dimensional data in a
WMS. But those results are not guaranteed to be accurate.
According to Hanrahan, 5 to 10 percent of the time, packers use a smaller or larger box than expected.
In the end, what matters is not so much how or where
you collect cubing and weight data, but that you do it, says
Skeen of Quantronix. The information you collect will have
great value, he says. And the more you use it, the more that
value grows. Accurate, up-to-date cubing and weighing
data offers a substantial payback for a relatively small
investment, he says. “The information it provides is
absolutely essential if you want to be a world-class distribution center.” ;
Editor’s note: For more on this topic, see “ 10 ways to boost
DC performance with cubing and weighing systems” at
www.dcvelocity.com.
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