Yard management system (YMS)

In a yard without a YMS, everyone knows something different. The dispatcher has the bookings in a spreadsheet, security has the entry book, the warehouse knows which dock is free, and the driver is standing at the gate phoning the forwarder. Nobody sees the vehicle’s whole journey, so the question of why a trailer stood at the dock for three hours goes unanswered.

What the TraxSystem yard management system covers

Before it arrives, a vehicle exists in TraxSystem as a booking. The carrier books a time slot in the portal and sees only the free slots, and the slots are set for each dock separately, together with the time needed to prepare the bay. Bookings, the kiosk and the SMS clearing the driver to enter are described on the dock scheduling page.

At the gate the driver checks in at the kiosk or with the operator, who registers the entry on a single screen, with details suggested from the history. The camera reads the plate, an access rule checks the booking and, at a one-way gate, raises the barrier, while a vehicle without a booking goes to the operator. On entry and exit, photos from the gate cameras are attached to the visit.

On site, the dock dispatcher assigns vehicles to bays, and the warehouse sees the day plan for its own docks and confirms the start and end of unloading. On-site traffic adds car parks with live occupancy, a vehicle locator on the site map and section speed measurement.

At exit the visit closes, and the time from entry to exit is counted automatically. Once the set threshold is exceeded, the system closes the visit and requires a reason. These records produce reports with export to Excel and PDF, which can also be e-mailed at a set time.

YMS, dock scheduling and vehicle entry control: the differences

A dock scheduling system books slots. It answers the question of when and at which dock a vehicle will arrive, but it does not know whether the vehicle actually arrived, how long it waited at the gate or when it left.

A vehicle entry control system keeps the log at the gate: who came in, why, at what time and whether they have left yet. Without bookings, it only sees a vehicle once it is standing at the barrier.

A YMS combines both and adds what happens between the gate and the dock: bay allocation, movement around the site and handling time. Only then can you see the vehicle’s whole journey and where it loses time. TraxSystem covers all three: the entry log is part of the system’s base package, and bookings with dock handling are a module you add straight away or later. The difference between a calendar and a full YMS is described in the article time slot calendar vs YMS.

What TraxSystem adds to the YMS scope

On many sites the yard borders on areas usually handled by separate programs: access control for people, the weighbridge, the railway siding, health and safety inductions and security work. In TraxSystem they are all recorded in the same database as vehicle traffic.

Weighing ends with a document linked to the entry, and two-stage weighing calculates the mass of the goods from the difference between the readings on entry and exit. A driver without a valid health and safety induction completes it at the kiosk, in one of eighteen languages, with a signature on the screen. Access control adds employees, visitors and subcontractors to the on-site list, so the evacuation list also includes drivers waiting at the docks. On the railway siding, wagons with UIC numbers, tracks and train consists sit in the same log as the trucks.

After an incident in the yard, the answer to who received the vehicle, how much it weighed and whether the driver had a valid induction is therefore in one log.

Where to start implementing a yard management system

Implementation most often starts with one gate and the entry log, that is, with the system’s base package. Bookings with the carrier portal and dock handling, weighing, access control and health and safety inductions are modules that are added straight away or in later phases, and they use the data collected earlier.

It usually takes one to three months from signing the contract to going live, depending on the scope and the number of integrations. The server stands at your site or in our cloud, with data in Poland, and the licence covers the same capabilities in both options. The pricing configurator shows the price for your own number of gates, docks and modules, and hardware is priced separately.

What TraxSystem does not do as a YMS

TraxSystem is not a warehouse management system (WMS): it does not keep stock levels, locations or picking, and it handles only the point where the warehouse meets vehicle traffic. Nor is it a transport management system (TMS): it does not plan routes, and vehicle location works only within the site. The boundaries between YMS, WMS and TMS are described in the article what is a yard management system.

A schedule will not increase dock capacity, because the number of bays follows from the infrastructure. It spreads arrivals over time and shows how many slots you are short.

The system will not, by itself, block entry for a vehicle without a booking or one covered by a ban: it shows the operator a warning, and a person makes the decision. Nor is there a ready-made connector for SAP or any other ERP system. Data exchange goes through the REST interfaces and is a separate project.

Questions about yard management systems

Related

Dock schedulingVehicle entry controlOn-site trafficLogistics centre and warehouseManufacturing plant

Further reading: What is a yard management system? · Time slot calendar vs YMS · Why a YMS does not handle wagons · How to choose a dock scheduling system

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