Your inbound is running on guesswork
Phone calls, shared spreadsheets, and one overloaded person holding it all together. Every DC manager has learned to staff around the chaos.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t costing you.
The 7am phone queue
Suppliers ring to book a slot. Someone checks a spreadsheet, picks a time, writes it down, sends an email.Â
A transport company calls with three consolidated deliveries.Â
A booking gets updated in one place and not another.
Pallet-based scheduling is wrong
40 pallets of ambient grocery and 40 pallets of chilled product requiring carton-level breakdown are not the same job.Â
One takes an hour. The other takes three.Â
When slot length doesn’t reflect actual work, the dock overruns.
A whole person doing a system's job
Most DCs employ someone whose entire role is managing the inbound phone queue, booking calendar, and exceptions.Â
That role exists because there is no system doing the job.Â
It shouldn’t have to.
Two trucks. One dock. No plan.
Vehicles queue in the yard.Â
Labour runs over. Carriers send detention invoices.Â
When your DC wastes drivers’ time, it affects your rates at the next contract negotiation and your priority when capacity is tight.
Before vs. After DockMaster
What changes on day one
OPTION 1: WHAT'S INSIDE
Five modules. One inbound.
Every component of your inbound operation — from booking to departed truck — in a single product.
Removes the phone queue
Suppliers log in, see their planned receipts, pick a time. Transport companies consolidate multiple suppliers under a single Booking ID.
Crossdock orders are created at the point of booking — in the system before the truck departs.
Suppliers manage their own amendments and rebookings.
Dynamic allocation, live
Dock doors open and close based on live receiving staff availability.
An early vehicle gets redirected to an available door immediately.
The system works with current information, not a plan fixed at 6am.
Eliminates overruns
Slot length is calculated from the actual work for each supplier — chilled, ambient, short-dated, lot capture, carton breakdown.Â
The dock plan is accurate before the day starts.Â
When deployed natively in CSnx, it improves automatically as receiving history builds.
Full compliance
Every vehicle arrival is logged against the Booking ID. Time on-site starts from arrival.
When turnaround is at risk, an automatic text alert fires to key personnel and the vehicle is prioritised.Â
Full compliance record — no logbook required.
Overtime reduction
Labour is planned against the confirmed inbound schedule — not a rough forecast or pallet estimate.Â
The receiving team knows what is arriving, when, and how long each delivery takes before the shift starts. When the portal removes the manual booking role, that person is freed for other work on day one.Â
Unplanned overtime drops because the plan was accurate from the start.
WHAT'S INSIDE
Five layers of control. One inbound.
Every component of your inbound operation — from booking to departed truck — in a single product.
Removes the phone queue
Suppliers log in, see their planned receipts, pick a time. Transport companies consolidate multiple suppliers under a single Booking ID.
Crossdock orders are created at the point of booking — in the system before the truck departs.
Suppliers manage their own amendments and rebookings.
Dynamic allocation, live
Dock doors open and close based on live receiving staff availability.
An early vehicle gets redirected to an available door immediately.
The system works with current information, not a plan fixed at 6am.
Eliminates overruns
Slot length is calculated from the actual work for each supplier — chilled, ambient, short-dated, lot capture, carton breakdown.Â
The dock plan is accurate before the day starts.
Full compliance
Every vehicle arrival is logged against the Booking ID. Time on-site starts from arrival.Â
When turnaround is at risk, an automatic text alert fires to key personnel and the vehicle is prioritised.
Full compliance record — no logbook required.
Overtime reduction
Labour is planned against the confirmed inbound schedule — not a rough forecast or pallet estimate.Â
The receiving team knows what is arriving, when, and how long each delivery takes before the shift starts.
When the portal removes the manual booking role, that person is freed for other work on day one.Â
Unplanned overtime drops because the plan was accurate from the start.
Removes the phone queue
Suppliers log in, see their planned receipts, pick a time. Transport companies consolidate multiple suppliers under a single Booking ID.
Crossdock orders are created at the point of booking — in the system before the truck departs.
Suppliers manage their own amendments and rebookings.
Dynamic allocation, live
Dock doors open and close based on live receiving staff availability.
An early vehicle gets redirected to an available door immediately.
The system works with current information, not a plan fixed at 6am.
Eliminates overruns
Slot length is calculated from the actual work for each supplier — chilled, ambient, short-dated, lot capture, carton breakdown.Â
The dock plan is accurate before the day starts.Â
Full compliance
Every vehicle arrival is logged against the Booking ID. Time on-site starts from arrival.Â
When turnaround is at risk, an automatic text alert fires to key personnel and the vehicle is prioritised.
Full compliance record — no logbook required.
Overtime reduction
Labour is planned against the confirmed inbound schedule — not a rough forecast or pallet estimate.Â
The receiving team knows what is arriving, when, and how long each delivery takes before the shift starts.
When the portal removes the manual booking role, that person is freed for other work on day one.Â
Unplanned overtime drops because the plan was accurate from the start.
HOW IT WORKS
From first booking to departed truck
STEP 1
Supplier books their own slot
They log in, see their POs, pick a time. The system calculates the slot from the actual product mix and receiving history. Multiple POs consolidate under one Booking ID. Non-ranged items are raised as a crossdock order — in the system before the truck leaves. Confirmation is automatic.
STEP 2
Your team sees a schedule, not a phone queue
Every confirmed delivery, every Booking ID, every calculated slot — visible in one place. Exceptions surface as tasks. Everything routine manages itself. No spreadsheet. No inbox to monitor.
STEP 3
Labour is planned from the schedule
Before the shift starts, the receiving team knows exactly what is coming, in what order, and how long each delivery takes. Staffing is set from confirmed bookings with calculated durations.
STEP 4
The gate works from the booking
Vehicle arrives. Gate Tracking logs it against the Booking ID. The gatehouse has everything from the confirmation. No call to the office. Time on-site starts immediately.
STEP 5
Alert fires. Record closes.
If the vehicle approaches its forecasted turnaround time, a text goes automatically to key personnel. Vehicle is prioritised at the dock. When it departs, time is logged. The complete record is captured — arrival, dock assignment, duration, departure.
CASE STUDY
What DockMaster delivered at a leading independent grocer
STATS CARD
Leading Independent Grocer
National DC, Australia
“
Our suppliers are now hugely complimentary about our booking system. It’s one of the best booking systems they’ve come across.
Logistics Manager · Leading Independent Grocer
Supplier self-booking with processing-time slot calculation
Suppliers and transport companies log in to the retailer’s system and book a time that suits them. The system calculates the most accurate inbound slot possible from the product mix and receiving history. The retailer did not need to staff a scheduling function to manage that process.
Crossdock order creation in the portal
Where a supplier does not range all their items in the DC, they create a crossdock order directly when they book the delivery. The goods are planned, received, stored, and consolidated with the next outbound delivery to the relevant store. The order is in the system before the truck arrives. No separate process. No manual workaround.
Automated turnaround alerts for Chain of Responsibility compliance
The system monitors vehicle time on-site in real time. Where a turnaround is approaching or exceeding its forecasted time, all key personnel receive an automatic text and the vehicle is prioritised at the dock. The retailer’s legal obligation under Chain of Responsibility legislation is managed by the system, not by someone watching the clock.
Supplier self-booking with processing-time slot calculation
Suppliers and transport companies log in to the Drakes system and book a time that suits them. The system calculates the most accurate inbound slot possible from the product mix and receiving history. Drakes did not need to staff a scheduling function to manage that process.
Crossdock order creation in the portal
Where a supplier does not range all their items in the DC, they create a crossdock order directly when they book the delivery. The goods are planned, received, stored, and consolidated with the next outbound delivery to the relevant store. The order is in the system before the truck arrives. No separate process. No manual workaround.
Automated turnaround alerts for Chain of Responsibility compliance
The system monitors vehicle time on-site in real time. Where a turnaround is approaching or exceeding its forecasted time, all key personnel receive an automatic text and the vehicle is prioritised at the dock. Drakes' legal obligation under Chain of Responsibility legislation is managed by the system — not by someone watching the clock.
Deployment Paths
Works with what you already have
DockMaster does not ask you to replace your WMS or ERP. You are adding the inbound scheduling and gate management layer your current stack is missing.
Standalone Deployment
Your WMS stays. Your ERP stays.
DockMaster connects to your existing WMS and ERP via standard integration.
Every module — scheduling, booking portal, dock optimisation, gate tracking, and labour scheduling — is fully available from day one, regardless of your existing stack.
- Full supplier self-booking portal
- Time-based precision scheduling
- Dynamic dock door allocation
- Gate tracking & automated turnaround alerts
- Labour scheduling against actual confirmed bookings
Native CSnx Deployment
Already on CSnx? DockMaster is embedded.
One vendor. One contract. One system from the supplier booking to the last pallet put away.
Slot durations derive from live CSnx receiving data and improve automatically as history builds. The dock schedule and warehouse schedule are the same schedule.
- Everything in standalone — plus deeper native integration
- Slot durations derived automatically from live receiving history
- Crossdock orders live in WMS before the truck arrives at the gate
- Dock and warehouse schedules unified in a single system
- Start standalone and move to CSnx — DockMaster comes with you