How many minutes are lost per day, per week, per month… because a vehicle is waiting its turn to load or unload? In industrial logistics, efficiency is not created in the warehouse alone: it is forged much earlier, in the design of the loading docks and in how smoothly vehicles and workers share the same space.
Designing these spaces requires anticipating the flows of both trailers and delivery lorries, as well as ensuring that day-to-day operations keep pace with what the business demands.
That is why calculating how many docks are needed, and of what type, is a strategic decision that defines the productivity of the facility. Below, we analyse the key factors for getting that design right from the outset, with the comprehensive approach and experience that characterise ALTERTECNIA's projects.
How do you approach loading dock design so that it really works?
A loading and unloading dock is much more than a door in the façade of an industrial building. It is the logistics hub where suppliers, hauliers, warehouse and production converge. Its design determines how smoothly all day-to-day operations run.
The most common mistake is to leave the dock until the end of the project, as an element to be resolved once the building has already been defined. When this happens, with poor planning, the result may suffer from space constraints, inadequate access or incompatibilities with the internal flow that no longer have an economical solution.
At ALTERTECNIA we tackle dock design from the conceptual stage, integrating the logistics perspective with architecture and building services engineering from day one. The loading and unloading area is considered and designed as part of the layout, even if it is not strictly on the floor plan.
To do so, we simulate vehicle flows, access manoeuvres and interaction with the warehouse interior in virtual reality. This allows us to detect conflicts before construction and optimise every design decision.
These are the key factors we take into account to size the docks of an industrial facility:
Vehicle types
Receiving articulated lorries is not the same as receiving last-mile delivery vans. Each vehicle requires a different dock height, turning radius and operating time. Identifying the real fleet (in-house and suppliers') is the first step towards correct sizing.
Volume of movements at peak hour
Working with the daily average is one of the most expensive mistakes. What should size the dock is the peak hour: the part of the day when inbound deliveries, outbound shipments and dispatches coincide. If the design can handle the peak, it can handle the rest of the day.
Average loading and unloading time
A homogeneous palletised load can be handled in 20 minutes; manual unloading of mixed goods can take more than an hour. Cross-referencing this figure with vehicle volume makes it possible to calculate how many docks you really need to avoid queues and waiting.
Seasonality and demand peaks
Some facilities multiply their activity at certain times of the year. The design must absorb those peaks without collapsing or being oversized for the rest of the year.
Type of goods
The type of goods shapes the dock: thermal sealing, ventilation, slopes, spill-containment systems or specific safety protocols. The product type defines much of the equipment and finishes.
Internal warehouse flow
The dock does not end at the door. It must connect naturally with the area it feeds: picking, dispatch, production or storage. If the internal flow forces crossings, backtracking or long routes, the dock may be well sized but poorly integrated.
External manoeuvring space
An articulated lorry needs a minimum amount of space to manoeuvre safely. If the plot does not respect those distances, manoeuvres become slow and dangerous and block other docks. The external design is as critical as the internal one and must be resolved on plan from the start.
Applicable regulations
Occupational risk prevention, ATEX zones if flammable products are handled, accessibility, evacuation distances and fire protection.
Complying with regulations is not optional, but good design goes further: it turns those requirements into opportunities to improve the safety, efficiency and traceability of every operation.
From theory to real operations
A good example of how this approach translates into specific decisions is the project delivered by ALTERTECNIA for a well-known bakery company in Catalonia.
>> Find out more about this project: Panabad: from an empty plot to a logistics plant designed from scratch.
In this case, dock sizing started from a very clear premise set by the client: maximise the number of daily delivery docks. The main activity generated a constant flow of small lorries leaving for retail outlets, while inbound raw materials by articulated lorry were limited to occasional operations. Two very different logistics realities coexisting in the same facility.
The result was an asymmetric design tailored to real operations: a few docks for articulated lorries, sized for sporadic raw material deliveries, and the maximum possible number of delivery docks, integrated with the internal warehouse flow to sustain daily turnover without bottlenecks.
Decisions of this kind can only be made by thoroughly understanding how each client works. So if you are planning a new facility or find that your current docks are limiting your operations, contact our team: we will study your case and propose a design tailored to the real needs of your business.
