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Top 5 Benefits of a Yard Management System

18.09.2015

In 2014, Solvo rolled out Solvo.Yard at the DKC warehouse and a review of system performance is now available almost a year after implementation.

A Yard Management System (YMS) is a separate class of systems in a series of Supply Chain Execution solutions, which also includes such systems as WMS, Labor Management and Transport Management System (TMS). In practice, the YMS can either be a standalone system or a modular part of a WMS system.

The top five benefits of a Yard Management include:

  • Preliminary notification about vehicle arrivals, departures;
  • Road transport operations planning;
  • Allocation of road transport by docks and processing zones;
  • Road transport clearance at the gate;
  • Management of vehicle waiting areas and yard operations.

In 2014, Solvo released Solvo.Yard and was first implemented at the warehouse of DKC in the city of Tver, Russia. A review of system performance has been carried out almost a year after implementation at this site. How does Solvo.Yard (YMS) work?

Preliminary registration of a scheduled truck visit

After the transport company sends a truck visit request via email to the warehouse it is received by the Solvo.Yard transport dispatcher who creates a truck visit in the system. The expected time of arrival and processing, driver information and other data is entered into the system. It is also possible to simplify this process by integrating it with WMS where it will sent information to Solvo.Yard based on the EDI protocol. After the truck visit is created, Solvo.Yard will automatically send a notification to the transport company that the request has been successfully registered and an SMS is sent to the driver indicating the time and address of the expected arrival.

Truck permit and actual truck visit registration

Solvo.Yard supports various methods for checking drivers at the gate and registering the actual visit depending on the yard settings. For example, one option is when the driver arrives at the warehouse and parks his truck in a special waiting area before the gate. Then the driver will pass through a special registration zone next to the gat, where the visit is registered using a self-service kiosk. The kiosk can be equipped with a touch screen for convenient verification of driver data as well as connected to a printer that will automatically print the route list indication the various stops along the route. The driver will verify his data using the kiosk and will receive an SMS notification from the Yard system with instructions to move to a specific area and queue for loading/unloading. »The system makes decision automatically without human input on how to build routes and transit point, while the driver receives the next task within a minute,« notes Nikolai Sobchenko, head of DKC warehouse complex. »We’re practically not seeing any queues at our facility. If before there were 5-8 trucks waiting at the gate, now 1-2 trucks is above the norm.« It must also be noted that all notification in the YMS are flexible and configurable.

Next, the driver passes through the gate and the security guard visually checks the state registration number of the vehicle and enters it into the system via the automated gate security guard workplace, which will open the gate.

Another option for automated truck gate entry is with integration between Solvo.Yard and video cameras to recognize the numbers (OCR).

»We are now only monitoring the data in the system and immediately pass the truck through the gate with one button,« a security guard at one of the gates explains. »We no longer need to print the permit and maintain a log like before.«

Road transport operations at the yard

When gate entry is confirmed, the system will automatically send an SMS notification to the driver that he must wait in queue of the internal waiting area of the warehouse complex. After the notification is sent to the Yard system from the WMS via a special gateway notifying that the orders are ready for shipping, the driver will receive another SMS indicating the shipping dock where he must park the truck for loading. Meanwhile, docks in the system can be assigned at the shipping area, either automatically or manually. After loading, WMS will send a signal to Solvo.Yard notifying that truck loading is complete. The driver will then receive a message that he must leave the dock and wait for the documents to be processed.

Sobchenko continues: »Before, 25-30 minutes would pass from the moment a truck arrives to the moment the warehouse is notified that the truck is ready. Now, registration takes one minute. The driver either registers or can contact the dispatcher. A minute later, the truck is already in the system and ready for operations. This can be applied to all other processes: finding a truck in the yard, arrival, loading, departure – everything is much quicker. And it is probably for the best that communication between a driver and a DKC representative is kept to a minimum. The driver communicates with our representative only at the final stage of loading, i.e. when he receives the load and documents. Prior to this moment, if there are no problems, the driver does not have to contact anyone. All tasks are received via SMS and the driver does not have to waste time finding the right person for assistance.«

A high level of efficiency is also achieved since the system establishes the most optimal route for the truck on the territory indicating all transit points, which must be visited by the driver. After receiving the accompanying documents, the driver will exit through the gate. Solvo.Yard sends out reports for a given period regarding all truck visits and truck processing delays based on a special schedule.

»With this system, we received a full set of reports, which makes it possible to fully track the truck loading process,« adds Sobchenko. »They can be sent out automatically, configured for daily as well as weekly and monthly reports. The system will automatically create and send out analytical reports for management.«

»We also received a great tool for monitoring problem situations. Any problem event will be detected by the system - whether unsanctioned gate entry or a truck processing delay - the system will notify us about any inconsistencies in the performance of a worker, who is responsible for the given task, which is very convenient.«



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