Appointment Management software is not just a nice-to-have anymore.  We'll be releasing a case study with specifics on the ROI soon, but in the meantime, I thought I'd list a few ways we've seen our appointment management application save customers money.

Visibility
The chart below shows a typical dock schedule as viewed in our application.  By having a real-time view to what's going on with the doors, the manager can fit appointments in where it would have been too risky to even try before.  The starred entries are backhauls.  Before, they would have been clustered at the end of the day but with improved visibility, they can work them in as time permits.  By tightening up the schedule, the customer can keep the unloaders busier during a shorter period of time.  Labor can be reallocated to where its needed or staffing levels can be reduced.

Fuel Savings
The improved visibility and management allows the customer to decrease the time the truck spends in the yard.  That saves a significant amount of fuel, which is obviously critical with today's gas prices.

Warehouse Efficiency
The appointment system can be tuned to schedule loads so that the doors are closer to where the product is.  That keeps the dock cleaner and lowers travel time for putaway.

Labor
I've already mentioned one way appointment management saves labor costs.  Because the suppliers and carriers are often scheduling their own appointments, the dock scheduler is free to perform other tasks. The dock manager spends less time dealing with the schedule and more time optimizing.  As mentioned, putaway distances are shorter, which frees up forklifts for other tasks.

There are less tangible benefits such as customer and employee satisfaction and being able to now see other areas that can be improved, but the savings mentioned plus the quick implementation show a pretty strong ROI.