capacity to direct workers to the next assignment—can go a
long way toward streamlining work flow. For example, once
a yard driver drops a trailer at a dock door, the YMS could
then provide the driver with instructions on what trailer to
move next.
“Time is saved when work is presented to the user rather
than the user checking in for the next [assignment],” says
Pujda.
Pujda notes that this is more than a matter of simply
assigning tasks from a checklist, however. The YMS should
be able to rank the moves requested in order of priority and
assign work accordingly. If two moves have the same level of
priority, the YMS should be “smart” enough to assign the
move closest to the yard driver for the sake of efficiency.
5Event management integration. Because so many compa- nies these days run lean on inventory, real-time information on inbound shipments has become essential to the
smooth functioning of an operation. For that reason, Greg
Braun, a senior vice president at C3 Solutions, advises shippers to look for a YMS that can be integrated with other
company systems.
“To be truly effective, a yard management system needs to
be able to integrate into a WMS and TMS [transportation
management system],” he says.
Linking the YMS to other company systems allows for
crucial information on “events” to be instantaneously communicated across the network, so the system can determine
the next steps to take. Pujda offers the example of a retail
operation, where notification of a trailer’s arrival might trigger an inventory allocation program to assign the goods to
a particular store. That decision would then dictate whether
the goods are sent to storage or cross-docked for loading
onto an outbound truck.
Event management capabilities can also include electronic communication with carrier information systems. For
example, at the same time the YMS records the movement
of a newly unloaded trailer back to the yard, the system
could automatically notify the carrier that its equipment is
ready for pickup.
A LOW-COST WAY TO BOOST EFFICIENCY
All technology comes at a price, and yard management
software is no exception. But the experts interviewed for
this article point out that there can also be a price to pay for
not investing in technology—particularly a technology
with the potential to bring order to a chaotic operation. For
that reason, they advise managers experiencing yard management headaches not to be put off by the costs of the
software.
“YMS systems today are pretty low cost,” says Obal. “If
you have more than 10 trailers, you need to do something
for sure. It’s better than having someone trying to remember what’s outside in the yard.” ;
