What to Look for When You Need a YMS Upgrade: How Automated Processes Can Increase Efficiency
When working in operations, one big question that is always asked is, “What will speed up this process?” The answer is simple: automation. When many Yard Managers identify inefficiencies within their operations, it’s mainly due to sticking with manual processes rather than utilizing technology that does it for them. When there are inefficiencies, there is a loss of profit, poor reputation, and other productivity and performance-related issues that impact its operations long-term. It’s time to drop the clipboard and automate!
Challenges in Yard Management
There are many pain points and problems that may be caused by inefficient yard management, including:
- No real-time visibility in tracking inbound trailers, shipments, and drivers across the yard.
- Challenges tracking the movement of trucks from dock to dock, from dock to parking, and from parking to parking, causing longer wait times.
- Inability to accurately track the current position of vehicles in the warehouse.
- Lack of proper documentation.
- Unneeded expenses including detention and demurrage fees.
- Absence of proper communication between yard managers and yard staff when things go wrong.
Automation & Your Yard: The Benefits of Automating Your YMS Operations
Considering utilizing a YMS to automate processes, but not sure if it’s worth the investment? Here are some benefits that come with automating your yard operations with a yard management system.
- Gate Management – Normally without a YMS, gate management is based on a manual check-in and check-out process, which can take too long and result in queues.
- Improved Staffing Productivity – When staff knows where to go, what to do, and when to do it, performance reaches a new level of optimization.
- Appointment Settings – Even the smallest delay or single missed appointment can potentially destroy a perfect schedule, and a YMS automates this process.
- Cost Savings – Need we say more? When processes are automated, there is significantly less risk of errors, saving more money in the long run.
- Dock Management – Organizing dock operations will significantly increase the throughput of your facility and avoid congestion, delays, and costly detentions.
- Yard Visibility – Automating yard operations will enable Yard Managers to gain a bird’s eye view of what’s happening in every aspect of the yard.
- Alert Systems – YMS allows you to set customized alerts to ensure timely reactions to possible problems, improving overall safety and security a sit replaces the need to conduct manual checks.
- Task Management – YMS automation automatically assigns tasks to spotters when trailers or inventory/assets need to be moved to dock doors based on real-time yard tractor locations, which minimizes travel times.
- System Integration – Yard management systems are able to integrate with additional systems, such as a warehouse management system (WMS), transportation management system (TMS), and ERP systems, which creates a one-stop-shop solution that streamlines operations and progression.
Be Mindful That a YMS Cannot Automate Every Aspect of Your Yard
Yard Management Systems are best-in-class solutions that streamline processes and implement continuous improvements for yard operations. However, they can’t automate every aspect of your yard. Although we wish to wave a magic wand and make everything happen in one fell swoop, it’s not feasible. Here is what a YMS can’t automate:
Allow Our YMS to Help Your Yard Operations
The purpose of this article was to state that every industry will experience issues, however, it’s how you find ways to minimize errors and streamline productivity that takes your business to the next level. With a full-service, best-in-class yard management system, your business is less likely to run into errors. The last thing you want to happen is not taking a chance on utilizing a YMS automation and negatively impacting your business’s reputation, affecting the number of future clients you may get.