Technology & Logistics
Asset/Inventory Management Starts in Your Own Yard
Meeting your customer’s objectives requires the consistent application of appropriate information technology throughout the logistics pipeline. The focus for most corporations today is ERP or MRP systems, often combined with a warehouse management application. This approach, if executed properly, can provide excellent order management and inventory control within the facility. What these systems lack is the real-time information required for managing the total logistics process – inbound product and materials prior to entering the building and asset and inventory management required once the order leaves the building. The flow of yard operations, therefore, has a direct impact on your customer’s satisfaction and your bottom line.
Yard Management applications can provide you with: Real time information about inbound freight and its scheduled arrival time; Inbound trailer appointment management; Management of outbound schedules; Asset tracking, including the actual location of the asset with in the yard; Trailer status; Monitoring of cargo temperature requirements; An efficient process providing real-time, activity-based information.
Perhaps the best way to demonstrate the benefits of extending your ability to manage the logistics process outside the building is the following case study.
Romark Logistics manages a 300,000-sq.-ft. distribution centre for a case-lot retail food distribution company. The facility accommodates approximately 100 scheduled unloads/loads per day. They were faced with a number of problems: yard congestion, priority scheduling of required inbound product, a paper-based appointment process with no reporting capabilities, dock congestion as a result of order staging, and a paper-based equipment location and status process that was labor intensive and subject to inaccuracies.
The goal was to maintain control and visibility of all product and assets, no matter where it is physically.
Symbol Technologies and Robert Transport Inc. provided the solution that included Yard Smart, a second generation yard management application developed by Robert Transport Inc. Yard Smart runs on a Windows NT-based Distributed Component Object Model, Microsoft Message Queue and standard Open Data Base Compliant Databases (ODBC) to provide a multi-tier application with extensive interface capabilities.
In addition, Symbol Technologies provided the necessary infrastructure: Spectrum 24 – Symbol Technologies wireless data and voice Radio Frequency (RF) local area network, providing total wireless data/voice communication within the facility and mobile computers that allow for point-of-activity data capture and communication. The result: accurate real-time information so dock supervisors can communicate directly with yard and dock personnel.
The process starts with inbound appointment management. Carriers will call and provide the Purchase Order Number and will be supplied with an appointment number, date and time. The appointment will be logged against a door and saved for arrival of the inbound load at the gate.
Inbound order management begins when the scheduled inbound load arrives at the gate. The appointment number is entered into Yard Smart and this is matched to the warehouse receipt. Additional information is also captured - trailer number, type, and fuel level if it is a temperature controlled unit.
By matching the inbound load to the warehouse receipt it allows the distribution centre to effectively manage inbound on both a First In, First Out (FIFO) and priority schedule basis. This process allows for inbound product verification against both the purchase order and order fulfillment requirements - the result, virtual elimination of short shipping.
As well, by capturing the relevant trailer information we have a database of all available equipment by type for the outbound loading process.
The outbound process starts when the 940 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) shipment file is passed from the host system to Yard Smart. This allows Yard Smart to calculate trailer requirements and run inquiries against the available inventory. Once this is done the system will provide followup with carriers, via fax or e-mail, to advise them about requirements. The result is reduced or eliminated order staging, and movement to a pick-to-load process. By prioritizing orders and monitoring loading trends, lead times should be reduced by a full day, and dock congestion will also diminish.
The consistent application of appropriate information technology throughout the logistics pipeline results in shortened cycle times, lower efforts, and accurate real-time information. Immediate, reliable information allows managers to optimize their human and physical resources.
The result of applying the right tools and strategies to manage your logistics pipeline is that you will gain total asset visibility and, as a result, fundamentally transform your company’s competitive position.