Background: There are currently two methods utilized in Amazon Sort centers for securing a trailer, or load, to a dock door for the purposes of safely unloading its contents. The first and preferred method involves the use of a commercial device known as a Dock-Lock, which utilizes a steel hook to engage a bar present on all trailers, preventing the trailer from being pulled from the door when engaged. The second method, known as the DLNE or “Dock Lock not Engaged” involves utilizing a wheel chock and a small lock which prevents access to the brake line or hitch of the trailer. The company wide preference is to utilize the Dock-lock however many doors in BWI5 do not possess the device, requiring the DLNE process to be followed. …show more content…
Three misses are clerical, and are the result of failure to complete additional steps required every 12 hours while a trailer is docked as DLNE. The final miss was a process miss, which was the result of an employee mis-entering the trailer in the TDR application as having a dock lock engaged. This caused none of the secondary components required to be placed to be utilized. This error could have caused serious injury or death and is completely avoidable with the available engineering control of a Dock-Lock.
Proposed Solution: There are many benefits to the Dock-Lock product, such as its inability to be disengaged without instant visible and audible alarm, it’s design, which prevents a trailer from shifting or moving, such as if it were struck by another tractor or trailer, and lastly it’s benefits to the operations team by decreasing the Takt time for TDR