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A Yard Management System (YMS) is a software application designed to manage trailer movement within large yards or transportation hubs. A YMS is a component of mission-critical supply chain execution (SCE) suite of applications.
A YMS typically sits between a Warehouse Management System (WMS) and a Transportation Management System (TMS). The job of the YMS application is to provide real time instructions to the yard jockeys responsible for moving trailers from the yard to the distribution center. Many larger distribution operations have several hundred trailers staged in the yard and it is imperative to move trailers to the receiving dock on a prioritized basis to ensure orders are filled and to eliminate carrier detention charges.
A properly integrated YMS software system enables complex distribution operations to accurately locate and identify trailers in the yard such that the inventory held in the trailer can be prioritized for unloading of for example the product is on back order or running low on stock. Some YMS applications provide RFID tracking capability to enable rapid assessment of the trailers held throughout the yard because all incoming trailers receive an RFID tag at the guard shack.
It is important to understand that YMS applications are highly specialized solutions that can be purchased as standalone bets of breed applications or as integrated modules within a suite of supply chain execution software applications. YMS software combined appointment scheduling is can provide significant logistics advantages for companies with a high volume of trailer traffic to contend with.
MWPVL International has actively participated in the YMS Industry since its origins and we continue to work with suppliers, customers and business partners to provide trusted experience in helping companies with the following types of questions:
- Which YMS software application is best suited for our company, yard operation, and financial budget?
- What is the business case for investing in a YMS application? What is the total capital investment requirements including internal and external resources and what financial benefits can we realistically expect to obtain from a new system?
- What are the main differences between the solutions available within the existing market place and which vendors present the match to our company’s requirements?
- Is there a structured process that we should follow when selecting a YMS application to ensure that we have done the appropriate due diligence to protect our company’s interests?
MWPVL International Inc. provides strictly unbiased advice and trusted experience in helping companies through the following efforts:
- Developing the business case and financial justification for a YMS application
- YMS requirements definition and RFP Development
- Development of structured software demonstration scripts
- Vendor/solution evaluation and selection
- Software negotiation and acquisition
- Developing the project budget, plan, schedule, internal and external resource requirements for deployment
- Project Management
- Software implementation
- On-going support
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