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4Front Engineered Solutions is a company that designs and manufactures loading dock equipment and solutions for warehouses, manufacturing facilities, retail stores, and distribution centers. Their product offerings include loading dock systems like dock levelers and vehicle restraints, HVLS (high volume, low speed) industrial fans, specialty/impact-resistant dock doors, ergonomic lift tables, and much more.
Before using GoRamp, 4FrontES faced several challenges in managing their time slots and dock scheduling.
They either relied on an in-house solution called 4Sight or had no system at all, leading to unscheduled truck arrivals and a lack of paperwork organization. The discontinuation of 4Sight left them in need of a new solution that could streamline their shipping and receiving processes.
4FrontES was looking for a solution that could track incoming and outgoing shipments, provide an easy-to-use interface for internal and external users, offer customization and permission control, and allow external suppliers and vendors to schedule their own shipments. This perfectly describes the GoRamp Dock Scheduling solution.
User-friendly, yet highly customizable solution
4FrontES knew what they were looking for in a dock scheduling solution. They wanted a solution that included:
- the ability to track both inbound and outbound shipments,
- a user-friendly interface accessible to internal staff as well as external partners,
- extensive customization options to tailor the solution to their specific needs,
- a permission system to control access levels
- a platform that would empower their external suppliers and vendors to independently schedule their own shipments, reducing administrative overhead.
After thoroughly evaluating the market, GoRamp emerged as the standout choice for 4FrontES
"GoRamp stood out because it looked easy to use, was customizable, allowed external users to book shipments, and was very price competitive." - Todd Roland, Manufacturing Engineer at 4FrontES
The implementation process was straightforward, starting with a 2-week trial period to set up a baseline and customize various fields within GoRamp. Todd Roland noted that the ability to easily "add your own fields and other areas, like docks and ramps" made the "onboarding and setup process very easy and straightforward."
Improved visibility and reduced workload for the shipping team
GoRamp brought major improvements to 4 Fronts' daily operations and workflows, especially in terms of visibility and accessibility for their shipping team. Prior to using GoRamp, the shipping team had very limited visibility into the scheduled shipments for each day and week, including specifics like order numbers, pickup times, and shipment details.
“We see two big values from GoRamp. The first is the visibility to see what we have coming and what we have going out and for our team to be able to plan around that. The second biggest value is the ability to push the scheduling to our vendors and remove our Logistics team from that process” - Todd Roland, Manufacturing Engineer at 4FrontES
With GoRamp implemented, the shipping department can now easily view the daily schedule and know exactly which documents need to be prepared for each shipment, such as bills of lading, customs paperwork, and sales orders, which are often uploaded directly into the GoRamp system. The GoRamp schedule is conveniently displayed on a large TV in the shipping department as well as on individual computers for easy access.
This enhanced visibility allows the shipping team to proactively prepare for upcoming shipments based on the schedule. They can also predict whether they will be facing a particularly busy or slow day, enabling supervisors to shift personnel into or out of the department as needed to support other areas of the facility.
Additionally, GoRamp has streamlined the process for 4FrontES' customers and shippers, who can now directly schedule and plan their own shipments through the system. This self-service capability saves considerable time, approximately 1-2 hours per day, for the logistics and shipping departments by offloading the scheduling tasks.
GoRamp for manufacturing companies
If you are in the manufacturing industry, GoRamp can be tailored to your system and workflow so you can improve your logistics processes like 4FrontES. Check out how GoRamp works for manufacturing companies or book a demo to see how GoRamp can work for you.
