Inside the warehouse · 3D
A sorting house, at work.
Containers unloaded by hand, every pallet weighed, garments sorted into categories, pressed into bales, labelled, scanned and loaded for export. Watch the people who do it, the field agents who check it, and the software agents that record it.
Inside the warehouse · Overview
A working sorting house
Containers come in at one end, graded bales leave at the other. Everything in between is people, machines and checks. Pick a station, use Next, or drag to look around.
Illustrative model of a typical sorting house, not a specific facility.
Station 1 · Receiving
Containers unloaded by hand
Porters carry pressed bales off the container on their shoulders and stack them on a pallet at the dock. Before the doors open, a Ragtrail field agent checks the seal number against the bill of lading.
Recorded: container and seal number, photos of the doors opening.
Station 2 · Weighbridge
Every pallet weighed
A forklift lifts the full pallet onto the floor scale. The gross weight goes straight onto the trade record and is compared with the packing list.
Recorded: gross weight and bale count, checked against the packing list.
Station 3 · Bale opening
Straps cut, bales opened
An opener takes each bale off the pallet, cuts the straps and feeds the garments onto the sorting line.
Recorded: bales opened per container, the start of the sort report.
Station 4 · Sorting line
Sorted by hand, garment by garment
Sorters on both sides of the conveyor pick each garment and throw it into its category cage: jeans, T-shirts, jackets, shoes, cream, children's wear, bags, wipers. A supervisor checks quality along the line.
Recorded: output by category, which becomes the sort report the supplier sees.
Station 5 · Baling
Graded stock pressed into bales
Category stock is fed into vertical balers, pressed and strapped into bales of a set weight.
Recorded: bale weight and grade.
Station 6 · Labelling
Labelled, scanned, traceable
Each bale gets a label with grade, weight, bale number, barcode and QR code. The field agent scans it, and the label has to match the packing list. Tap the wrapped bale, or press Scan a bale.
Recorded: bale number, grade, weight and scan time.
Station 7 · Graded stock
Racked by grade, reserved for buyers
Wrapped bales go into pallet racking by grade. The matching agent reserves stock against live buyer specifications.
Recorded: location by grade, reservations against buyer specs.
Station 8 · Export dock
Stuffed, photographed, sealed
Bales are loaded by hand into the export container. The field agent photographs it empty, half full, full and closing on the seal, and the document agent checks the packing list.
Recorded: loading photos, packing list check, seal number.
Drag to look around · scroll or pinch to zoom · tap a number to jump
Scanned · sample record
Bale B-0417
- Grade
- Grade A, mixed summer wear
- Net weight
- 45 kg (scale 45.2 kg)
- Sorted at
- Sorting house, Karachi (verified buyer)
- From container
- RGTU 204518 2, seal checked on arrival
- Packing list
- Matches: line 17 of 60
- Next
- Reserved for buyer spec RT-B-3HX9QK
Sample data for illustration. In the portal, every bale on a trade has a record like this.
Three kinds of agent, one trade record.
The work is done by people. The checks are done by Ragtrail field agents. The record is kept by software that never forgets a step.
Labour on the floor
The people who do the work: porters, bale openers, sorters, baler operators, labellers and forklift drivers. Most of the value in a container is created by their hands.
- Unload and stuff containers
- Open bales and feed the line
- Sort by garment, fabric and condition
- Press, strap and label bales
Ragtrail field agents
Independent checks on site, on both sides of the trade. They don't sort; they verify, and they upload what they see.
- Seal and container numbers
- Pallet and bale weights
- Label scans against the packing list
- Loading photos at each stage
Software agents
Automated checks in the Ragtrail portal that watch the trade record and act on it, so nothing waits on someone remembering.
- Matching: offers to buyer specs
- Documents: B/L, packing list and labels agree
- Tracking: vessel position and ETA
- Payments: deposit and balance milestones
Station by station, what ends up on the trade record.
| Station | Who | What is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Receiving | Labour, Field agent | container and seal number, photos of the doors opening. |
| 02 Weighbridge | Labour, Field agent, Software agent | gross weight and bale count, checked against the packing list. |
| 03 Bale opening | Labour | bales opened per container, the start of the sort report. |
| 04 Sorting line | Labour, Supervisor | output by category, which becomes the sort report the supplier sees. |
| 05 Baling | Labour | bale weight and grade. |
| 06 Labelling | Labour, Field agent, Software agent | bale number, grade, weight and scan time. |
| 07 Graded stock | Labour, Software agent | location by grade, reservations against buyer specs. |
| 08 Export dock | Labour, Field agent, Software agent | loading photos, packing list check, seal number. |
The 3D warehouse is an illustrative model of a typical secondhand clothing sorting house. Layouts, equipment and staffing vary between facilities.
Next step
Trade with the warehouse you just walked through.
Open an account as a supplier or a buyer, or call the trade desk and we'll show you a live trade record.