News: Cascades Uses Opendock to Centralize Dock Scheduling Processes for 63 Plants

Chicago, IL - August 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Loadsmart, a next-gen logistics solutions provider, is enabling Cascades, a leader in eco-responsible packaging, hygiene, and recovery solutions, to centralize their dock scheduling processes across 63 plants with Opendock, an online dock scheduling platform built specifically for the needs of warehouses.

Cascades launched a strategic initiative to centralize its logistics operations at the corporate level. After an analysis of different platforms’ strategic benefits and ROI, Opendock was chosen to expand across their network. By 2020 - 2021, most of Cascades’ plants were actively using Opendock. Today, 63 total plants across Canada and the United States are using Opendock for dock scheduling.

Process Improvements

As part of the RFP process, Cascades was searching for a platform that would be easy to use and self explanatory. They found that in Opendock. “Most users really appreciated the tool from the get-go due to its speed and its nice looks,” said Doriane Presse, the Senior Logistics Supervisor at Cascades. “It’s really standardized our processes.” Now, the logistics team can easily input dock availability and carriers are able to book appointments according to labor and space constraints. 

Greater Visibility

Opendock has improved visibility for all levels at Cascades. Corporate now has the same visibility as plant directors. The greater visibility helps Cascades’ corporate teams manage facilities’ schedules and those schedules simply cannot be overbooked anymore. Doriane adds, “It also helps us better plan for holidays. The platform is really helpful for our customer service teams and planners during those days, it has all the information they need!”

Better Carrier Relations

Before Cascades rolled out Opendock across their network of plants, carriers had a hard time coordinating pickup and delivery appointments. “The process was very difficult for our carriers to follow since it was different everywhere,” said Doriane. “Overall, carriers appreciated the standardization of our systems; it’s much easier for them to have a one-stop platform for both our inbound and outbound shipments at each of our locations.”

Fewer Shipment Delays

Cascades now experiences fewer shipment delays because appointments are set with the carrier’s and the plant’s availability in mind. Carriers can easily find appointments online that match their service agreements, and congestion in the yard is limited as appointment times are known well beforehand. Logistics team members have the bandwidth to address issues right away instead of spending time manually booking appointments. And because it’s easy to see the dock schedule, adjustments can be made when issues do arise instead of rescheduling an entire day to accommodate changes.

Click here to read the full case study documenting the benefits Cascades has achieved since partnering with Loadsmart.

About Loadsmart

Loadsmart offers logistics solutions powered by industry experts and next-gen technology that lower costs, increase efficiency, and digitize transportation. From Planning, Optimization, and Execution to Gate, Yard, and Dock solutions, ending with Audit & Pay capabilities, we deploy the best mix of services and technology to empower your business to move more with less. For more information, please visit https://loadsmart.com.