Round 'em up! (page 2)
-- Logistics Management, 9/1/2005
Page 2 of 3
Rounding Up the Benefits
As with any software project, shippers may encounter challenges while implementing YMS applications. In Kuo's view, though, implementation is the easy part. Optimizing DC operations to achieve such benefits as higher service levels, increased capacity, and lower operating costs is a bigger challenge, she says.
Non-compliance can become a problem when managers underestimate the level of effort required to enforce change. "For some companies, non-compliance or inadequate training are issues that can affect the success of the entire project," says Kuo. Only by ensuring that the workforce is properly trained and enforcing adherence to process can they achieve the necessary benefits, she adds.
Another way to squeeze the greatest benefits from YMS investments is to make sure the software communicates well with existing WMS and TMS solutions. That's because the yard basically is an extension of the warehouse, Obal says.
Adding radio frequency identification (RFID) capability to a YMS will also help shippers gain more efficiencies, says Dan Jester, a director of sales at Santa Clara, Calif.-based Wherenet. "About 80 percent of the manual tasks that yard operations do today using a standard YMS can be eliminated when you have [RFID], because the tags provide critical pieces of information in real time to the system," he says.
A look at two YMS success stories provides examples of the kind of benefits the software can offer.
HEB Grocery of San Antonio, Texas, had been using a homegrown YMS since the early 1990s. In 2001, the retailer implemented a YMS from C3 Solutions to facilitate the movement of trailers in the yards of its 18 DCs. The new system is currently in use at the company's two largest facilities, in San Antonio (500 dock doors) and Houston (300 dock doors).
The upgrade was warranted because the existing system was outdated and no longer reliable, says Justen Noakes, supply chain, warehousing, and transportation technology leader. "Having used YMS for ten years, we knew there were some advancements out there, not only in terms of architecture, but also in functionality," he says.
A key feature of the new software is automated dispatch, which prioritizes trailer requests into a sequence based on user-defined parameters. "Spotters," who move trailers around the yard, are equipped with radio frequency (RF) units to allow dispatchers to "see" each trailer's location and contents.
Despite experiencing some difficulties while integrating the new software with its existing business processes, HEB's investment in YMS has paid off. Says Noakes: "We've definitely reaped efficiency and productivity gains."
Three years ago, another grocer, Associated Food Stores in Salt Lake City, bought a new YMS from Retalix to help it manage a one-million square-foot facility that includes 100 dock doors surrounded by a mile-long perimeter yard. Since then, the distributor has seen significant benefits, not the least of which is an extremely high "on-time to retail" rating for its trailers.
"Of the tens of thousands of loads that went out in 2004, just eight late loads were attributed to the yard system and the process that we're using," says Tim Van de Merwe, yard logistics manager. The wholesaler has also whittled down the time that it takes to get an inbound trailer back out on the road. "A trailer that's been assigned can be headed to a door for outbound within minutes," he says. "There is no delay, and that's very powerful."
The ability to automate assignments is by far the most valuable feature for Associated Food Stores. "There is no human intervention," says Van de Merwe. "Once a route or load is completed, it's fed through to the WMS, continues down to the yard, and the right trailer ends up at the right door, and at the right time."
Van de Merwe also likes the software's graphical user interface, which includes a computer-assisted design (CAD) drawing of the yard. "Everything is color-coded, so you can just glance at the screen and gain a full measure of what's going on in the yard at any given time," he says. "That, combined with the CAD drawing, gives us an accurate view at a glance." Continued...
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