Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
Warehouse operators have turned material handling into an art form, developing intricately choreographed systems for whisking goods and materials through their DCs. But all that efficiency inside the building won't count for much if the trucks outside face delays navigating a bustling yard. That's led many to look at what they can do to make operations more efficient outside the four walls of the DC.
We talked to industry experts about the best ways to tackle the yard management challenges facing busy DC operations. What follows are their top five tips for easing the congestion.
Tip 1: Have drivers check in with a smartphone app when they arrive on site. One way to speed up the flow of trucks through a yard is to take advantage of the powerful computer most drivers now carry in their pockets—the smartphone. And these days—perhaps not surprisingly—there are apps for that. For example, as part of its software platform, Montreal-based yard management system (YMS) developer C3 Solutions offers a free smartphone app for drivers that lets them swiftly check in when they arrive for an appointment.
"When he shows up, he can just scan his smartphone, verify his load, and allow the facility to track him within the yard," said Greg Braun, senior vice president of sales and marketing and a partner at C3 Solutions. "Then the facility can say, 'Drop your trailer in this area and pick up another,' or 'We're not ready for you yet.' It's faster than in the old days, when gate guard would say, 'Tune your CB to channel 15, and we'll let you know when the door is ready.' Now, you can just send a message via the app saying, 'You're up next!'"
When drivers check in with their smartphones, they can also activate their global positioning systems so that yard personnel can track their whereabouts. That information gives warehouse managers the ability to plot the location of every truck on their lot, avoid the time-intensive process of searching for vehicles that may be parked in the wrong spots, and fit more drop-offs and pickups into each day.
"It's a visibility play; the problem is not so much the yard as the scheduling," Braun said. "If you could do more live unloads instead of drops, you wouldn't need a bigger yard or more doors. You just need better organization."
Tip 2: Encourage drivers to show up on time by tracking their performance. Many DCs rely on a carefully orchestrated schedule of truck arrivals and departures to keep goods moving smoothly through their facilities. When drivers show up late for appointments, it can throw a wrench into that machinery. Yet many warehouses lack the precise records they need to hold specific fleets or drivers accountable.
Once drivers realize there are no consequences for late arrivals, the problem can escalate. "When drivers are not held accountable, they know that even if they're late, [the receiver] would never do anything to deny the freight. So they show up at the end of the day and [the facility] still accepts the load because it's important inventory," Braun said.
Automating the check-in process changes all that. When drivers use smartphone apps to notify the yard of their arrival, the facility can capture the data and use it to track their performance over time and generate scorecards for drivers or companies, C3's Braun said. Armed with these records, a DC manager can go to a supplier and show it that Driver X habitually misses appointments or that the company's trucks arrive at unexpected times, whether it's too early or too late.
Often as not, that will bring an end to the behavior. "When you put this discipline in place and hold people accountable, they tend to fall in line," Braun said.
Tip 3: Prioritize deliveries to avoid backups and waiting lines at dock doors. To prevent peak period holdups, it helps to prioritize and "pre-assign" trucks to certain docks in advance of their arrival, said Eric Lamphier, senior director for product management at software developer Manhattan Associates Inc., which offers a YMS as part of its supply chain application suite.
Among other advantages, sorting out dock assignments ahead of time allows facilities to deal more efficiently with vehicles with special handling needs. For instance, a truck carrying temperature-sensitive goods may have to be sent to a "chilled" or "frozen" dock, instead of an ambient-temperature dock. Another might need to be directed to a dock door that's equipped to handle cargo in floor-loaded boxes instead of on pallets. A third truck may be doing a "live unload," dropping off just a portion of its cargo before heading to a different site. "These are unique scenarios that you need to route differently through the facility," Lamphier said.
Prioritizing trucks is particularly crucial for companies whose operations rely on just-in-time (JIT) deliveries. "Nobody wants a buildup of product, either in the building or in the yard," Lamphier said. "But neither does anyone want a large buildup of drivers outside, honking their horns and wondering when they can drop off a load."
Tip 4: Keep your robots busy. For a growing number of companies, setting priorities has become more than a matter of seeing that a truck carrying frozen foods is sent to the right dock or that a vehicle with raw materials urgently needed for production gets bumped to the head of the line. These days, they may also have to factor in the technology used at the dock itself.
For that, they have the robotics revolution to thank. "Robotics is coming online like a freight train," said Eric Breen, director of the 4Sight Systems logistics software suite at Assa Abloy Entrance Systems. One result is that a number of facilities have equipped certain of their warehouse docks with high-speed robotic material handling or loading equipment. To get the most from these expensive assets, the facilities will almost certainly prioritize deliveries to keep those docks as busy as possible, Breen said.
Tip 5: Augment human performance with computers in the yard. While automated equipment and robotics can go a long way toward streamlining yard operations, companies can realize even greater gains by augmenting human performance with technology tools, according to Matt Yearling, president and chief executive officer of Pinc Solutions.
These tools could be anything from wearable devices to the technology Pinc may be best known for—flying drones that allow users to identify distant assets as the sensor-equipped aerial vehicles hover above the yard.
Among other advantages, drones can help fill in a conspicuous visibility gap for companies that track the end-to-end movement of their freight: the time that trucks spend in the yard. Businesses have sophisticated systems in place to monitor the whereabouts of vehicles while they're on the road, "but [trucks spend] a vast amount of time idling at the source or destination, and people lose track of that," Yearling said.
As for other ways facilities are putting technology to use in the yard, some are installing automated kiosks at their front gates, replacing the guards once posted at the entrance to check drivers in with radio-frequency identification (RFID) scanners. Not only can these self-service kiosks make check-in faster and more accurate, but they can also eliminate language barriers that might otherwise exist between drivers and gate attendants.
Long dismissed as a simple expanse of pavement, the DC yard is now being seen as an untapped opportunity to gain operating efficiencies through the magic of automation. With the growing use of smartphone technology, robotic loading equipment, and automated kiosks, that vision is fast becoming a reality.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.