Information Management: Cloud-based YMS provides real-time visibility across network

Over the course of several years, a leading retailer had expanded its yard management system (YMS) into multiple facilities, creating the need to gain enterprise-wide visibility. With a cloud-based system, the company was able to maximize asset use and better control costs.

From its primary logistics center in Stockton, Calif., the company’s managers use the YMS as a central command and control point across its transportation network. Managers now have access to multi-site yard analytics and can compare performance against specified criteria.

“I can compare facility performance side by side to ensure they are meeting our target KPIs,” says the retailer’s logistics manager. “The dashboards enable us to drill down to individual yard-level details in real time.”

The system monitors aggregated arrival, departure and dwell-time metrics to evaluate performance across carriers. At check-in, trailers are assigned a passive RFID tag. Shipment and arrival schedule information is provided in the YMS using periodic file exchanges with the transportation management system (TMS). Dock door assignments are communicated to drivers at check-in.

Advance shipment notifications have reduced the reliance on error-prone human entry at the gate and enabled search by tender number to locate inbound shipments. The company reports savings from the elimination of daily manual yard checks, a reduction in detention charges and control of demurrage risks by tracking delayed trailer departures. It also notes reduced driver wait time and overtime while halving the number of yard trucks per shift.

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