Cross Dock Pallets

Kraft has the flexibility to offer cross-dock pallets in a variety of formats to support total supply chain efficiency. These applications can be tailored to each customer’s specific supply chain requirements. Examples include:

• Store-ready promotional modules that can be cross-docked from inbound Kraft trucks to outbound store deliveries. Once the pallet reaches the store, it can be placed directly on the sales floor, ready to generate sales. From a warehouse perspective, the amount of inventory in the network is reduced, and the amount of case picking in the customer’s warehouse is also reduced, delivering true supply chain efficiency.
• Pallets for reverse-pick or customer dock de-selection. Store level demand for an item is aggregated by the customer and transmitted to Kraft. Kraft then order selects the exact quantity to match this aggregated demand, and ships the pallet to the customer’s warehouse. The customer then picks individual store orders from this pallet, depleting the case quantity on the pallet to zero. Inventory is reduced, and the residence time of product in the warehouse is dramatically reduced.
• New item pallets. Periodically, Kraft offers a pre-set assortment of all new items on one pallet. This presents a unique opportunity for our customers to speed the introduction of new items to stores and consumers. New items can be moved cross-dock, with each pallet ready to go straight to the store and selling floor.

At the heart of cross-dock pallets is the goal of driving out all unnecessary, static inventory and get product to the selling floor as quickly and as efficiently as possible. In all of the examples above, the velocity of inventory is increased, and the total number of touches on the product is reduced.

Are cross-dock store ready pallets a good supply chain solution? As with so many supply-chain related topics, the answer depends on many factors, and is best answered by Kraft and our customers together evaluating the supply network. Please contact your Kraft Customer Supply Chain Manager for more information.