Facilitating long-term partnerships with optimised Cross-Docking:
DSV’s strong relationship with 3M has MIXMOVE’s X-Docking solution largely to thank, as the company’s productivity, visibility and efficiency all reach new performance levels.
The reason for MIXMOVE
Within supply chain operations, buzzwords such as compliance, visibility, productivity, transparency, accountability and agility are easy to include in strategy plans and continuous improvement manifestos, but not always easy to deliver. For DSV, these very challenges were presented to them, with the additional expectation that comes from being part of 3M’s vast and high-profile network.
3M is just one of thousands of customers that DSV – Global Transport and Logistics can boast as part of the company’s own impressive portfolio, once again adding pressure on those critical, cultural and technical elements hitting their mark.
The close relationship between DSV and 3M ultimately led to MIXMOVE’s door, as the former sought to align itself more closely to the latter’s requirements, while simultaneously improving its own levels of productivity, efficiency, visibility and continuous improvement.
Mere months later, with throughput up by as much as 30%, and errors reduced by a staggering 80%, progress has been fast and pronounced.
The tool to carry DSV to such drastic improvements: MIXMOVE’s X-Docking software.
“Working with MIXMOVE has led to us working and optimizing even more effectively. Thanks to transparency and overview provided by MIXMOVE, we can serve the needs of our customers even better.”
Georgios Diamantidis,
Team Lead, Dispatching Incoming Traffic National Road DSV
The challenges
DSV A/S is a global transport and logistics service provider headquartered in Hedehusene (Denmark), that offers professional solutions, modern transport and storage logistics services. With own branches and offices DSV is active in more than 80 countries and six continents. With thousands of customers and a vast geographic footprint to manage, there is a constant responsibility to be agile to each client’s requirements, while also being uniform enough to achieve consistent performance levels.
In this case, 3M mandated DSV’s use of MIXMOVE X-Docking in two key Central European locations: Germany and Denmark.
A key driver for the formulation of this relationship was the inefficient use of truck space within shipments, caused largely by the adoption of non-stackable pallets.
After identifying this opportunity, however, it made further sense to address the entire cross-docking process, end-to-end, to ensure that shipment operations were being optimised across all metrics.
As a result, the overriding aims for DSV at the beginning of the partnership were to:
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Become compliant with 3M’s supply chain requirements
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Automate and standardise cross-docking operations across different hubs
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Create and seamlessly translate cross-docking execution plans based on critical data
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Provide auditable, visible, KPI-centric statistics by capturing performance data during all phases of execution
The solution
The resultant proposition is a reflection of this harmonious collaboration between MIXMOVE, DSV and 3M to ensure a market-leading tool offered in a bespoke way.
Stage one was to address the initial issue at hand, and to condense different products into full pallets – making them easier to load - and therefore transport - to end customers.
“MIXMOVE has identified our needs and helped tremendously in the solution to better structure and optimize our processes”, says Axel Binder, Senior Team Lead, Incoming Groupage and Domestic
However, beyond that core objective, the MIXMOVE Hub solution has also delivered a host of additional benefits across the entire logistics process:
Inbound planning
First and foremost, the solution encourages the use and leveraging of existing data that is generated from inbound flows and customer orders. This helps to inform optimum strategy and future-planning based on customer trends and anticipated workloads.
Pallet and parcel consolidation and reconstruction
The solution also merges with in-transit scenarios and parcel reconstruction capabilities to ensure improved efficiency from start to finish. Not only are DSV’s delivery speeds accelerated, but they are done so with more productive assortments of packaged products, and optimum use of floor space. The system is adaptable to deal with specific reconstruction processes, meaning that it defines which pallets should be broken into boxes.
Outbound planning and execution
From that point, DSV is also enjoying the creation of new and innovative outbound pallet architectures, allowing for multiple products to be shipped in more efficient and dynamic ways. MIXMOVE creates these more agile cross-docking execution plans which are then translated to operators via handheld devices.
Reporting on performance and operation tracking
Throughout the entire process, X-Docking facilitates complete real-time visibility and reporting functions. This is naturally a huge advantage to DSV in keeping on top of each and every task. However, that same visibility is also available to DSV’s customers as a way to offer transparency and clarity around expected shipments.
Long and lucrative partnerships
Since the solution’s adoption, DSV has not only reaped rewards across each of those four critical areas, but has also enjoyed real-time monitoring of shop floors across each hub; as well as more efficient and streamlined documentation and labelling; and enhanced API and batch integration with transport management and warehouse management systems.
Georgios Diamantidis, Team Lead, Dispatching Incoming Traffic National Road assesses the collaborations:
“Working with MIXMOVE has led to us working and optimizing even more effectively. Thanks to transparency and overview provided by MIXMOVE, we can serve the needs of our customers even better.”
Ultimately, in just 12 weeks for each hub, this real-time, data-led cross-docking solution has afforded a level of speed and agility that other systems simply can’t handle.
Perhaps the most significant upshot for DSV, though, is the company’s resultant status as one of 3M’s preferred suppliers in both Germany and Denmark thanks to the solution’s impact.
Compliancy and alignment between the two have been achieved, hub throughput with the same resources has risen by as much as 30%, operations are faster, less space is required, visibility is enhanced both within the company and in the eyes of customers, KPI monitoring and reporting is enabled, and operator errors have reduced by a dramatic 80%.
With more responsive and agile distribution centres in tow, and heightened standardisation across hubs, DSV is now ready to promote this substantial value to new prospective customers, as well as 3M as part of a long and lucrative partnership.
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