Why use yard management in retail?

Understanding why yard management is so important to ensure the success of retail logistics operations.

Retail logistics is the entire chain of processes and supply that occurs until the product is in the hands of final consumers. There are many paths the product needs to take to get there, and efficient management is necessary to ensure everything goes as expected.

The receiving of goods is one of the most vulnerable points in retail, as a lack of organization in this process generates a series of problems, such as delays and product shortages, in addition to financial losses for the business.

To solve these problems, having yard management is very important, as the receiving of goods should not be a headache for retailers. After all, the success of the logistics operation impacts the entire supply chain!

Yard management begins even before a truck arrives at the docks, so it needs to be treated as a priority. Companies are generally more concerned with optimizing warehouses and transport, but forget to prioritize yard management.

With this in mind, we created this content to show the importance of having good yard management in retail and show how you can do it using software as a tool.

Continue reading the article to find out more!

Problems faced in the receiving of goods

Yard management is a set of activities and actions, which aims to manage the resources and operations that occur in the yard of a logistics operation.

This activity includes controlling the entry and exit of trucks and controlling loading and unloading so that goods are received correctly, according to the day and times previously agreed upon. But that's not all!

In theory, it seems simple, but all the actions taken before the trucks arrive at the yard are just as important as the receiving itself.

See below for the most common problems faced when receiving goods:

• Deliveries without scheduling, leaving the retailer unsure when they will receive the goods;

• Delays that increase the risk of leaving shelves for the final customer without products within the timeframe they need;

• Incorrect orders, which occur when the invoice and what is being received are not checked;

• Inefficient loading and unloading processes;

• Lack of visibility of the process as a whole;

• Truck queues, which generate a high risk, since according to Law 13.103/2015 (Detention Law), if the deadline for unloading the truck exceeds 5 hours, the contracting party must pay compensation to the carrier.

These are some of the problems faced due to the lack of organization in yard management, and they can be mitigated through strategies to improve the management of logistics operations.

Why is yard management important in retail?

The receiving of goods can be a major problem for retailers, as when done incorrectly, it generates impacts that reach the shelves. However, there are good practices that can improve the process as a whole!

It is essential to know that yard management is composed of the integration of several stages and sectors, which need to be in harmony so that there are no failures. In this case, it needs to cover good practices, strategies, and technologies with the aim of supervising and controlling the flow of inbound and outbound loads.

To understand how efficient yard management can reduce costs and optimize processes, it is first necessary to understand its importance:

When we carry out yard management, we can automate several stages of the internal logistical process, preventing manual actions from being carried out, which improves the operation. It is also important for cost reduction, as optimizing the entry and exit of vehicles avoids fines and delays in deliveries.

Another point is the speed in obtaining information, as having real-time visibility and access to yard data helps managers reduce vehicle dwell time, optimize loading and unloading, and reduce bottlenecks.

Understand below why yard management is so important for retailers:

• Brings more efficiency and reduces failures in the process, such as delays, stockouts, and storage problems;

• Access to just-in-time information on the operation, which facilitates decision-making and the resolution of possible problems that may arise;

• Guarantees more security for everyone involved, be they suppliers, carriers, or retailers;

• Improves the SLA for customer service, suppliers, and partners;

• Reduces costs in the logistics chain;

• Through the anticipation of Electronic Invoice, we can resolve fiscal, tax, and commercial problems even before the goods arrive at the yard;

• Generation of reports with unloading status, no-show reports, and received invoices and orders.

Industry 4.0 brought many advances to yard management, as it is no longer necessary to use clipboards or spreadsheets to carry out actions, as manual processes slow down progress and tend to generate more errors.

Currently, all of this can be done through specialized software, combined with good internal management. This impacts everyone who is part of the ecosystem and helps to optimize work.

How can software help improve yard management in retail?

In addition to involving many stages, yard management requires a high level of dynamism and assertiveness. All of this is because the amount of loads managed daily can be very large.

With this, relying on technology and task automation is fundamental to ensure a successful operation.

The integration between departments and areas involved in the entire logistical process is also very important for technology to be used in the best way.

Using yard management software is the first step, but the decision and knowledge about what to do with the generated information and how to use it best is still human.

Through an effective system, the speed in scheduling deliveries, loading, and unloading is increasingly optimized. Furthermore, relying on technology helps avoid problems with invoices and products, even before the truck arrives at the docks, all through the control of flows and activities.

Get to know the Tempo Certo system

As we saw earlier, a yard management system is monitoring, scheduling, and logistics control software.

The system acts in management and gives managers a complete view of the operation, which is very important so that the logistics chain does not collapse, considering that the coordination of what occurs at the docks is not only at the moment the trucks arrive at the gate.

The Tempo Certo solution helps the business go further in controlling the stages of the logistics operation, which directly impact efficient yard management. The system anticipates the visualization of the order as a whole, at the exact moment the scheduling is confirmed by the retailer itself.

What's more: based on all the information entered into the system in advance, the retailer can define the time the demand will require. In this way, they can predict actions and possible failures, adjusting the operation to optimize it.

To help your company move forward, revolutionizing the receipt of deliveries, visit our website and see how our solution can help optimize your day-to-day.

Request a free demonstration and see in practice how our system can help you!