The growth in complexity of supply chain management is a given, no argument there. Companies add channels, partners, and suppliers — often sourcing from new markets to balance risk. Periodic, sometimes chronic disruptive events lead to delays and add to costs. Labor management is a perennial challenge, in terms of available workers and rising payroll.
Within the supply chain link known as yard management, operations have not kept pace with the rapid rate of change. Surprisingly in the digital era, many companies still rely on manual processes to keep track of gate access, yard asset management, audits, and dock scheduling.
Yard management system (YMS) technology has been in place for about 30 years, and has provided a huge boost to operational efficiency. It tracks yard assets, inbound and outbound truck trips, schedules dock assignments, and handles gate access control. However, while the capabilities have increased, most YMS systems aren’t equipped to handle real-time data and advanced automation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
That said, recent advances in complementary yard vision systems powered by AI and ML are providing a significant boost when integrated with a traditional YMS. This innovative technology, which takes in and analyzes data from camera feeds, is key to improving yard management performance and efficiency. AI is revolutionizing yard management by providing real-time insights, automation, enhanced visibility, and greater scalability. This has benefits both upstream (procurement and sourcing) and downstream (distribution and inventory) in the supply chain.
Challenges in Yard Management
Manual yard management processes invite inefficiency. For example, manual tracking of truck and trailer movements and available inventory provides limited visibility into yard activities. Without real-time data, delays proliferate as yard teams struggle to locate assets.
Manual data entry can be error-prone, causing incorrect inventory counts, misplaced assets, and inaccurate status updates. This disrupts schedules and delays loading and unloading.
Poor coordination between yard and warehouse teams can cause trailers and containers to sit idle for extended periods. This can increase costs, as the company can be liable for carrier detention charges. It also means missed delivery windows and demurrage charges for keeping containers past the contract period.
Manual processing at the gate can cause delays of up to 20 minutes per vehicle. This affects overall efficiency across operations, pushing up costs.
Without real-time visibility, mismatches in loading dock availability can lead to two- to four-hour delays per truck. Drivers are unable to find or access their assigned spots, either because another truck is still at the same dock or due to congestion. Also, dropped trailers can’t be located quickly. This results in delays of outbound shipments, inbound loads take longer to process, and inventory management is affected. Ultimately, customers are disappointed when deliveries arrive late.
YMS Gets You Part of the Way There
A legacy YMS is certainly an improvement over manual yard processes. Yet without real-time data and AI capabilities, it can create similar challenges. Decision-making is reactive rather than proactive. Delays in updates can lead to bottlenecks at the gate, inefficient dock scheduling, or misplaced yard assets. For example, a trailer might sit idle for hours because the system cannot dynamically reassign tasks based on current conditions.
Legacy YMS systems typically rely on static rules or preprogrammed logic that doesn’t adapt to changing conditions like traffic, weather, or fluctuating shipment volumes. This inability to optimize in real time leads to poor utilization of resources across the board: docks, labor, and equipment.
Many legacy systems lack seamless integration with WMS, TMS, and ERP, creating data silos. This makes it difficult to coordinate yard operations with warehouse workflows and transportation schedules.
A legacy YMS also has a hard time handling complex scenarios, such as managing high shipment volumes, multisite operations, or the need for predictive insights. Businesses with seasonal peaks or irregular shipping patterns face inefficiencies that can’t be addressed without AI-driven solutions.
How AI is Transforming Yard Management
Next-generation yard vision technology leverages AI, allowing previously unattainable performance gains to be realized. Load planning and shipment sequencing is enhanced by analytics on vehicle capacity, delivery schedules, and transportation constraints. Improved visibility into transportation schedules, routes, and available capacity drives better synchronization of yard operations with inbound/outbound logistics.
Predictive Analytics Powers Inbound Scheduling
A YMS equipped with yard vision software analyzes historical data to predict peak times and optimize scheduling and routing. This reduces yard congestion and helps both fulfillment and transportation teams stay on plan.
Automated Dock Assignment
Enhanced visibility into dock availability, inbound flow, and yard traffic means dock assignments can be updated and revised on the fly, based on shipment priorities, product dimensions, and other special requirements.
Real-Time Tracking and Visibility
By accessing data feeds from security cameras, a yard vision system provides precise updates on vehicle locations and the status and timing of inbound freight for inventory purposes. Real-time visibility and insights are gained through tracking truck and trailer movements, asset locations, and yard activity. Through YMS integration, the system identifies potential congestion at loading docks or excessive dwell times.
Automated Workflows
An AI-based yard vision system automates critical workflows to eliminate repetitive, time-consuming manual tasks. For example, gate check-ins and secure access control can be automated by capturing dozens of identifiers on incoming trucks and trailers.
Asset tracking is optimized through integration of real-time data, enabling dynamic location updates for trucks, trailers, containers, and yard trucks. This not only reduces labor but also minimizes errors and delays from manual data entry. Automated workflows free up yard managers to focus on strategic decisions rather than operational bottlenecks.
Reporting and Insights
By aggregating and analyzing real-time data from yard activities, the system generates detailed analytics on KPIs like asset utilization, gate turnaround, throughput, and dwell time. These insights allow managers to make smarter decisions, optimize resource allocation, streamline scheduling, and proactively address inefficiencies.
Using predictive analytics, managers can identify patterns and anticipate challenges, ensuring continuous improvement. Yard operations now become a strategic supply chain asset rather than a logistics constraint.
The Tangible Benefits of AI in Yard Operations
Armed with this innovative yard management technology, warehouse and manufacturing operations can realize a number of key benefits:
Enhanced Efficiency in Yard Audits
With automation powered by AI, yard audits can be conducted continuously and seamlessly, eliminating the need for manual audits that happen three to four times a day, requiring significant labor. This boosts efficiency while freeing up valuable manpower for higher-level tasks.
Improved Data Accuracy and Real-Time Capture
An AI-enabled system ensures accurate data collection and real-time updates, providing dynamic insights into yard operations. This eliminates errors from manual data entry and supports better decision-making.
Streamlined Shipping and Receiving Processes
Real-time visibility and dynamic dock scheduling reduce mismatches in dock availability, reducing delays and congestion. Drivers can quickly get to their assigned spots, significantly improving operational flow and reducing turnaround times by hours.
Efficient Trailer Location and Movement
AI systems use advanced tracking and location capabilities to help yard truck workers quickly locate and move trailers. By optimizing trailer placement, congestion is reduced and yard space is used more efficiently, saving time and increasing productivity.
Maximized Driver Productivity
Automation minimizes wasted driver hours so they spend less time waiting or searching for trailers. This leads to increased driving time and mitigates the impact of the chronic driver shortage.
Reduced Detention and Demurrage Fees
AI-driven systems minimize delays that lead to costly detention and demurrage fees. These advanced solutions, when integrated with YMS, provide the tools to avoid fees and optimize yard operations. This offers a clear advantage over manual processes, spreadsheet-based management and legacy YMS.
Seamless Integration: AI and the Digital Supply Chain
Implementing a YMS integrated with AI-powered yard vision can be challenging due to the initial costs and complexity. Companies need to invest in infrastructure, training, and change management to ensure a smooth transition.
These challenges can be overcome by developing a clear implementation strategy that involves key stakeholders and close coordination with the vendor. In a 2023 LinkedIn post, Brad Forester of JBF Consulting provided an excellent overview of how to formulate an integration strategy across YMS, TMS, and WMS. This included considerations such as balancing live and trailer drop appointments, and when to use a TMS versus a WMS for appointment scheduling.
In general, choosing a scalable, customizable system is crucial for long-term success. It should be able to adapt to your changing operational needs and unique requirements for maximum efficiency and ROI. Consider a pilot project first to prove out the value and minimize disruption.
Look for a solution provider that offers a comprehensive onboarding and training process for a smooth, hassle-free integration. The technology should be rigorously tested and proven in various logistics environments to ensure high reliability and uptime. Lastly, a commitment to ongoing support for promptly addressing any concerns or issues is critical.
A Much-Needed Technology Boost To Yard Management
Yard management, while it often flies under the radar relative to other aspects of the supply chain, remains a critical function in ensuring a smooth logistics flow. Other areas affected by the performance of yard operations — warehousing and fulfillment, transportation management, and supply chain execution — have seen a greater focus in terms of technology investment. But that picture is changing as AI opens up the potential for greater levels of efficiency and positive upstream and downstream benefits.
EAIGLE, a pioneer in applying AI to logistics, uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology to capture more than two dozen identifying elements from arriving trucks and trailers. It then analyzes the data to optimize gate and yard operations, improving flow and lowering costs through automation and efficient workflows. Importantly, EAIGLE’s platform augments rather than replaces a legacy YMS. The company has in fact partnered with leading YMS providers through the Yard AI Alliance.
EAIGLE’s solutions for gate management (AVAC™ — Automated Vehicle Access Control) and yard operations (YardSight™) improve operations by enabling optimized gate access and making dock scheduling and queueing more efficient. To find out more, request a demo today.