yard management systems Archives

The Supply Chain is faced with many and varied challenges such as accelerating flows, trade globalization, cost reduction goals, urban mobility, and multimodality. In this context, transport serves as an essential method of gaining customer loyalty to the company’s image, in both B2B and B2C. To overcome these challenges, companies can no longer go without real-time visibility of their transport operations- but how can they meet this requirement? Reviewing the obstacles and solutions allows for greater end-to-end transport visibility.

Visibility: a new challenge for global transport

Increased awareness of the importance of B2B visibility

Favored by e-commerce in B2C, the heightened visibility expectations for transportation now extend to B2B as well. According to a study conducted by Generix Group in partnership with the Institute of Commerce¹ in February 2020, 31% of French companies see real-time visibility as a key solution to keep the promise made to customers.

End-to-end visibility of the logistics chain enables companies to:

-Quickly take note of irregularities;

-Be more agile in addressing them;

-Anticipate problems to encourage decision-making.

Once alerted of a delay or obstacle early enough, professionals can reorganize accordingly and thus limit its impact on their business. This is why companies have heavily invested in appointment-booking tools in recent years.

A large disparity in equipment between countries

Regardless of the means of transportation used (road, sea, air), flow visibility is now widespread in the United States. Nearly all U.S. carriers have equipped themselves appropriately in less than two years, in part because they refuse to be subcontractors.

The situation is entirely different in Europe where subcontracting is advanced. The countries of the European Union have therefore invested differently in tracking solutions. If Portugal stands out as an example, information systems are far from being widely integrated in Europe, and vehicle equipment levels are inconsistent. According to a study on transport visibility conducted by Generix Group and the Institute of Commerce in June 2020², only 23% of B2B companies offer traceability services in France.

What solutions ensure transport plan visibility?

Aside from WMS (Warehouse Management System) and TMS (Transport Management System), other systems ensuring end-to-end visibility can be used to collect transportation-related information.

Advantages of a collaborative platform

Collecting data from different players in the Supply Chain is essential to keeping the customer informed of their order status. If products are stored by the supplier, the distributor must be able to access available inventory levels. On the other hand, orders and delivery times given to customers must be communicated in real time to suppliers. This visibility of stock can be ensured through a collaborative platform.

With the collaborative portal, the supplier can also trace data concerning order preparation and shipment. Through a connection with the service provider and carrier’s logistics solution, the loader tracking platform can be supplied with delivery information. Regardless of the carriers used, the distributor can follow the progress of each order from a single platform. If a problem arises, they can also be alerted to resolve the issue and inform the client as needed.

Benefits of Yard Management

Increased volumes and delivery frequencies can lead to on-site traffic jams and difficulties loading on the docks. In addition to blocking the movement of goods, this hindrance to both human and material resources can have consequences throughout the entire logistics chain.

Moreover, within the global Supply Chain, there are two integral players whose field constraints are totally different: the manufacturer and the carrier. The flow of information from each of these must be synchronized so that transportation is guaranteed on time and production is never slowed or halted.

Yard Management Systems (YMS) optimize costs related to:

-Administrative management of carrier appointments – this involves having extensive working hours and optimal staff availability;

-Shipment organization – respect for the arrival and departure times of carriers, increased operator productivity on the docks, and better management of load processing…

Thanks to an event recording and time-stamping system, Yard Management solutions are now increasingly being used by companies. In particular, they measure the quality of service and the performance of various stakeholders:

-Punctuality, compliance with safety and cleanliness protocol for carriers;

-Emphasis of wait times on shipping site.

Shaken by new challenges, the logistics sector is now looking to improve its transport operations and to better manage the flow of goods, costs and order processing times. In this context, TMS, YMS and collaborative platforms serve as excellent catalysts for change. Want to learn more about these solutions to increase visibility of the logistics chain and transport operations.

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This article originally appeared on GenerixGroup.com. Republished with permission.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way in which businesses operate. With the new regulations taking place, constant changes of guidance from various governments, and overall instability, companies have figured the significance of effective yard management systems.

A yard management system (YMS) is a special type of software developed to track the progress of trucks and trailers belonging to a yard of a warehouse, manufacturing facility, distribution center, or other buildings. The significance of such a system is clear – it shows real-time information which is very helpful in managing the yard.

Company employees see real-time data about trucks and trailers and they effectively move trailers from staging to docks. As a result, the company is more effective, all orders are completed right on time, and the overall effectiveness is increased. And of course, setting up such a system saves the expenses on maintaining the yards.

Even without the pandemic, the yard management system would have a great impact on the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of a business. Digitalizing the yard operations each year saves the expenses on transportation and capacity. Overall, the impact of digitizing yard management is significant, and here is why.

Benefits of Yard Management Digitalization

Even though the recent data shows that most companies invest from 0% to 5% of their budget into digitization and automation, there are still businesses willing to digitize their yards. Digitalization may improve efficiency, improve security, and greatly reduce transportation costs. Here are some key advantages of digitizing yard management:

-Digitalization has great potential to remove human error in transportation.

-Digitalization gives aid to shippers by optimizing not only the time but also resource consumption and labor.

-Significant decrease in package time, allowing clients to receive their purchases a lot quicker – and that is good for business. When the most famous e-commerce companies deliver their packages within days, it is hard to be competitive when delivering orders within weeks.

-It makes a company more competitive due to the spread of digitalization. Nowadays, most competitive companies have at least basic automation.

-Reduces operating costs.

The most advanced systems will even notify the managers about the most trending products to be almost out of stock. Thus, whenever managers receive such messages, they can order more trending products so when the clients order them, they won’t have to wait for months.

Moreover, huge companies’ logistics executives are seeking methods of optimizing automatically the flow of products into and out of the available facilities (warehouses). They seek ways of effectively managing yard capacities, yard service providers, trailer pool availability, transportation contracts, etc. A lot of things can be improved by simply choosing the right maintenance system.

Overall, a digital yard system is more beneficial than standard paperwork. PINC – a digital yard solutions provider, takes a deeper look at how this can benefit operations in a recent series of articles and webinars. Instead of using tons of company’s resources on managing which isn’t as effective, a company is spending on fixing the most common issues thus enabling more efficient workflow. The digital yard system solves many problems as stated below.

Visibility

An effective yard operation is when everything is done on time. That’s why visibility is so important. Instead of creating bottlenecks and moving trucks in or out without any purpose, the company manages all yard operations effectively due to visibility provided by YMS.

Wise Planning

Wise planning isn’t possible without visibility. Before the trucks arrive, you see what exactly is coming at you thus giving time to plan before the truck arrives. As a result, a company’s executive sets appointments, work schedules, organizes yard moves, etc. When the truck arrives, the workflow is organized effectively and there is no waiting time.

Speed

The speed is related to visibility. When you see what is inside the containers, when they arrive, etc., you can manage effectively. Productivity is largely improved since the employees move everything effectively.

Labor Forecasting

If you visit a traditional yard (the one managed by a manual system with all the paperwork), you will see trucks waiting for their turn to be unloaded or uploaded. That is due to the waiting time since the manager has to manually find a place for a container, or where the truck should be loaded with goods. A YMS system is a lot more effective since managers direct trucks to sections where they should upload or unload goods prior to their arrival.

Improved Communication

YMS allows managers to set the software so it will automatically notify customers, drivers, yard managers about the goods that are in or out, or goods that are on their way. In fact, all the supply chain will have access to the yard through real-time data supply.

Loss/Theft Prevention and Security Improvement

YMS offers a way to save money on security improvements since it tracks all the goods the moment they have arrived in the yard. A lot of things can go missing or be stolen if the yard is managed manually, but it is nearly impossible with YMS.

Reputation Improvement

Effective yard management directly affects your reputation. When all the packages are delivered when customers expect them, without any delays, your company is seen as a reliable option. Most customers also prefer to track their purchases, and YMS can help with that.

Cost Saving

The visibility and overall management improvement directly impact the expenses of a company. It reduces fuel costs, labor, retention costs, and minimizes the amount of freight on the shelves instead of trucks. Companies that have implemented YMS make fewer errors, they don’t need that many trailers to host goods, impact the costs on expired inventory, etc.

Better Work Environment

YMS greatly reduces every hostlers’ anxiety during work. Instead of having tedious paperwork, hostlers use easy to use tablets. With the help of these tablets, they effectively manage the yard and it takes less time and effort. Thus, no depression, anxiety, and it immensely reduces the stress of everyday work.

Conclusion

Even without the need of implementing optimizations due to the pandemic, digital yard management has a great impact on the cost-effectiveness and overall progress of the company. It makes everyone’s life easier and YMS reduces the cost of transportation and yard management.

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Since her teen years, Bethany Watson was always interested in writing and esports, so she decided to merge these two passions by choosing the career of a journalist who mostly writes about trends in eSports. She regularly contributes to the major media publications in the niche and serves as an editor for bestesportsbettingsites.net.

Transport Visibility in B2B: Challenges and Solutions