1/17/2018 Metric of the Month: Dock to Stock Cycle Time in Hours for Supplier Deliveries

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Metric of the Month: Dock-to-Stock Cycle

Time in Hours for Supplier Deliveries
To monitor performance of the receive, inspect and store inbound deliveries
process, many facilities use the metric dock-to-stock cycle time as a key
performance indicator.
MARCH 2, 2017

The basic function of the receive, inspect and store inbound delivery process is to take
responsibility of inbound deliveries, validate that deliveries received match the purchase
order, and to check for damages as well as other material inspections such as appropriate
package or product labeling. Ensuring products are received correctly will reduce problems
further downstream. To monitor performance of the receive, inspect and store inbound
deliveries process, many facilities use the metric dock-to-stock cycle time as a key
performance indicator.

Dock-to-stock cycle begins when your business entity receives delivery of goods from the
supplier and ends when those goods are put away in the warehouse and recorded into the
inventory management system. Activities associated with this process typically include dock

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1/17/2018 Metric of the Month: Dock to Stock Cycle Time in Hours for Supplier Deliveries

management, inspection, product labeling, cross docking, housekeeping and safety, material
handling, product identification, putaway, slotting, inventory strategy and location
management.

As shown in the graph, American Productivity and Quality Center’s (APQC’s) Open Standards
Benchmarking shows that there is a significant di erence between top performers and bottom
performers with regards to the number of hours it takes to receive and store supplier
deliveries. Top performers spend 44.1 less hours for this process than bottom performers. 
Ine iciencies on the receiving dock will impact downstream warehousing and distribution
functions such as replenishment, picking and packing, and shipping processes. There may be
additional costs in terms of trailer detention fees, increased trailer moves, and the impact on a
driver’s hours of service as they wait for unloading of trailers.

Top performing organizations spend less time to receive, inspect and store inbound deliveries.
These organizations are communicating with its suppliers through advance ship notifications,
bar coded information or even RFID tagged pallets that allow for visibility of incoming
products, which reduces physical labor needed to process inbound deliveries. The goal for
these facilities is to move inbound deliveries from the receiving dock to storage with as few
scans as possible.

APQC helps companies work smarter, faster and with greater confidence. The organization is a
proponent for benchmarking, best practices, process and performance improvement, and
knowledge management. APQC’s structure as a member-based nonprofit makes it a
di erentiator in the marketplace. The organization partners with more than 500 member
organizations worldwide in all industries. For more information, please visit www.apqc.org. 

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