Understanding Bulk Receiving

2017-05-03 20:04

Commodities that may want to consider Bulk Receiving:

  •  Potatoes - most common bulk receiving scenario
  •  Onions - usually received in bulk and then binned
  •  Citrus sometimes
  •  Cherries sometimes


Characteristics of Bulk Receiving:

  • Produce is in a bulk truck, not in a container and must be unloaded with conveyor belts/flumes instead of a forklift
  • Can arrive and be stored at a packing facility or at a storage facility
  • Because bulk product can be stored, there is a short but busy period of time when the receiving is done. There can be lots of trucks received in a short amount of time. This means that the entry must be streamlined so that the operator can get each truckload entered into the system quickly.
  • Truck loads can vary between:
    • Smaller 6 or 8 wheel farm trucks traveling short distances (less than 20 or 30 miles)
    • Semis with bulk trailers capable of hauling 80,000 lbs and hauling hundreds of miles
  •  Data Captured:
    • Grower/Supplier
    • Receive Date
    • Truck
    • Product, usually Commodity and Variety
    • Storage Location. Usually a “bin” which is a large open bay in an enclosed building that can hold several truckloads of product.
    • Weight. This can be associated with a “Scale Ticket”. Arithmetic is done using the Tare weight of the truck.
    • Tare weight can be default from a Vehicle Maintenance record, or it is calculated using the actual in/out scale weights.
    • Field Ticket Number (sometimes sent along with the truck.)

        Inventory quantity/weight can be handled in different ways:

  • One item is created per truck load; quantity is expressed in weight either pounds or CWT
  • One Item is created per truck load (Quantity of one); weight is the actual net weight.
    • Because the product is received and stored in bulk, there are no bin tags to print.
    • Sampling is often a component of bulk receiving. Payment to the growers/suppliers can be dependent on the sampling results
      • Sampling information is usually tied to a specific truckload
      • In Envio Sampling, information is tied to a Supplier Receipt (not an item).
  • Reporting. There is usually a report back to the Supplier, either daily or for multiple days that shows: (A default report is included, however if you want different information on the report, you must request and purchase it.)
    • Ticket Number
    • Date/Time Received
    • Truck
    • Variety
    • Storage Location
    • Weight received
    • When sampling is complete, the report can break out the sampling by grade results.
Average rating: 0 (0 Votes)

Help us improve the knowledgebase - rate this article above