Outline the dock-to-stock cycle in a typical FC process.

• A. Receipt at dock, quality check, putaway to storage, putaway confirmation in WMS, stock ready for picking.
• B. Quality check, dock receipt, putaway, stock ready.
• C. Putaway could occur before receipt at dock.
• D. Stock is picked before it is received.

Answer: (A)

The dock-to-stock cycle is the sequence that moves goods from receiving to available inventory, ensuring receipt, verification, storage, and system update so the stock is ready for picking. First, items arrive at the receiving dock and are formally received. Next, a quality check confirms the condition and quantity match the accompanying documents. After verification, the goods are put away to a storage location, and the putaway is recorded in the Warehouse Management System to update inventory status and location. Only after this confirmation is the stock considered ready for picking.

If we tried to start with a quality check before the dock receipt, it wouldn’t make sense because there must be something physically received before you can inspect it. If putaway happened before receipt, you’d lose traceability and accuracy because the items wouldn’t have a documented arrival to attach the storage location to. And picking before receipt would imply stock exists and is available before it has actually arrived and been recorded, which would violate basic inventory control.