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Dock-to-Stock in 8 Hours: How Vision AI Shrinks Internal Travel Miles

  • Writer: Info Seeteria
    Info Seeteria
  • May 23
  • 2 min read

Best-in-class warehouses put inbound pallets away and ready for picking in fewer than three hours.  APQC finds typical operations closer to 12–24 hours.  The extra delay ties up capital, clogs aisles, and leaves order selectors hunting for missing product.


Vision-driven heat maps and automated tasking attack these hidden “search miles.” When cameras confirm an unload is complete, the system dispatches the nearest available forklift, plots the shortest put-away path, and verifies placement—no barcode gun needed. Here’s how the cycle shrinks from a day to a shift.





Overhead view of a warehouse aisle: one forklift follows a blue “PICK UP” path from the inbound staging area toward storage racks, while another follows a yellow “DROP” path out toward outbound staging
Overhead view of a warehouse aisle: one forklift follows a blue “PICK UP” path from the inbound staging area toward storage racks, while another follows a yellow “DROP” path out toward outbound staging


1. Map the anatomy of internal travel waste


Internal travel steals up to 30 percent of a forklift’s available hours:


  • Search miles: driver hunts for an empty slot

  • Double handling: product staged twice before final location

  • Mis-sequenced tasks: put-away and picking fight for aisle space



Vision AI records every forklift trail and displays traffic density so process-improvement teams see exactly where time leaks.



2. Heat maps spotlight dead zones and golden zones


Plot 30 days of forklift GPS or camera tracks. Hot colors show over-travel; cool colors show under-used aisles.


Example fix: Move slow-moving SKUs out of the “golden zone” (waist-to-shoulder, near shipping) and re-slot fast-movers. One electronics DC cut average pick path by 18 percent using this method.



3. Vision-triggered task assignment


  • Cameras detect that Door 12 unload is finished.

  • WMS pings the closest free forklift with a task and optimal slot.

  • Tablet displays a map arrow and ETA.

  • On arrival, camera verifies pallet placement and clears the task.



Early adopters report 15–25 percent faster put-away and virtually zero wrong-location errors.



4. Tie maintenance into the same data loop


Hours-of-use data from vision tracks feeds the maintenance CMMS automatically. Forklifts approaching service threshold get queued for PM after they finish current runs—no mid-shift breakdown surprises.


5. Coach operators with video-backed KPIs


Weekly scorecards pair metrics with short video clips of good and bad runs. Operators see how smoother turns or tighter pallet placement trims seconds. Targeted micro-coaching beats blanket retraining and raises engagement scores.



ROI example


Cutting dock-to-stock from 18 hours to 9 frees goods for sale half a day sooner. For a DC turning $500,000 of inbound inventory daily at 30 percent gross margin, that’s roughly $75,000 in incremental monthly margin just from faster availability—plus lower labor and equipment wear.



FAQ sneak peek


What is dock-to-stock cycle time?

The elapsed time between a carrier’s proof-of-delivery at your dock and the moment the SKU is available for picking in the WMS.


What is a good benchmark?

Best-in-class operations run under 3 hours; average performers run 12–24 hours.


Does vision AI need new cameras?

Seeteria retrofits your existing CCTV network; cloud or on-prem options keep IT happy.


How hard is integration?

A REST API feeds events to major WMS and YMS platforms; typical pilot connects in two weeks.



Next step

 
 
 
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