Library — Distribution
Distribution centres under pressure
A warehouse runs on a dozen tight constraints at once — docks, labour, space, carrier arrivals — and feels every one of them when volume spikes.
01The problem
Inside a distribution centre, small mismatches compound fast.
Trucks arrive early or late against their appointments. Inbound volume outruns receiving capacity. Pick labour is planned against a forecast that has already moved. One zone fills while another sits half empty. The warehouse management system records all of it faithfully and understands none of it together.
The congestion that results is obvious to everyone on the floor, and to nobody in advance — which is exactly when it could still have been avoided.
Congestion is not a surprise. It is a forecast nobody made.
02Where Theralon applies
- 01
Docks and arrivals
Carrier arrival times read against dock schedules and receiving capacity, so a backlog is visible hours before it forms.
- 02
Labour against volume
Pick, pack and receiving workload projected against the people rostered, and gaps filled before they become late orders.
- 03
Space and placement
Occupancy and flow watched zone by zone, with the placements creating avoidable travel and congestion flagged.
- 04
Commitments at risk
The customer orders an inbound delay or a labour shortfall puts at risk, and the order in which to protect them.
- 05
Across the network
Where another site could absorb volume before one building is overwhelmed.
03What changes
Backlog found at the dock
Backlog seen hours ahead
Labour planned to yesterday’s forecast
Labour matched to today’s volume
One building at a time
The network absorbing the spike
04Under the hood
Theralon connects WMS, TMS and ERP events and reads them against the Principia, so a late carrier, a short shift and a full zone are evaluated as one situation. Recommendations are weighed against the whole operation — moving inventory can reduce one exposure while creating another, and the platform says so.
If this is your operation, we would like to hear about it.
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