Just over two weeks after project44 announced a European expansion and a new offering aimed at providing more accurate delivery windows, the company is again making waves with the launch of Yard Solutions, a set of automated dock, yard and asset management capabilities.
The new product will offer three core services — slot booking, yard visibility and yard management — and can be directly integrated into the Chicago-based company’s suite of first-, middle- and last-mile visibility solutions.
Unlike a traditional yard management solution, which relies heavily on legacy technology and can be difficult to connect to other supply chain systems, project44’s offering leverages real-time location tracking and Internet of Things (IoT) automation to boost efficiency while allowing integration into the rest of the supply chain.
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“Moving goods efficiently and with discrete visibility through yards can be a challenge,” said Kiruba Raja, general manager of yard solutions at project44. “Our innovative Yard Solutions enable shippers and logistics service providers to reduce time in overall gate management workflows, lower costs spent on yard equipment and optimize processes in the warehouse, such as load prioritization and dock door assignments.”
The solution will accomplish those feats in a few different ways. For one, Yard Solutions will enable self-service for carriers at both the arrival and departure points, simplifying the process of moving goods into and out of the yard.
The solution will also offer advanced forecasting and planning using predictive ETAs, like the ones project44 unveiled in February. The company’s proprietary tech gives yard operators real-time updates on trailer status via IoT devices to ensure that docks and facility personnel are being used efficiently.
Inside the yard itself, Yard Solutions streamlines operations through spotter and live driver management, allowing for the easy orchestration of tasks and a greater ability to promote collaboration among dockworkers and drivers. The offering also utilizes intelligent technology within yard facilities, using it to automate processes like trailer loading and unloading.
The new service will even enable operators to run reports and advanced analytics across one or multiple yards. Using enriched data from project44, they’ll be able to quantify the number of appointments per day, the quantity of trailers arriving and departing, the wait times incurred by drivers and more.
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“Adding slot booking, yard visibility and yard management capabilities to our market-leading supply chain visibility platform provides our customers with even greater end-to-end real-time tracking of their goods,” said Chief Product Officer Vernon O’Donnell. “By enhancing the fulfillment process and improving yard efficiency, those organizations can deliver an optimal customer experience from start to finish.”
The key here is “from start to finish” — Yard Solutions can be integrated directly into project44’s other visibility offering for the first, middle and final miles to provide a comprehensive, end-to-end view of a company’s supply chain. That sets it apart from self-contained offerings that are limited to the yard.
In February, FreightWaves announced an ocean data sharing partnership with project44 to provide users of FreightWaves SONAR with high-quality insights on the ocean market. The company was named No. 1 in FreightWaves’ FreightTech 25 list for 2022.
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