A manufacturing supply chain that receives raw materials and distributes manufactured goods is inherently complex. More than just another checkpoint, it’s the nerve center of logistics execution for the entire supply chain. As the initial touchpoint in the logistics process, the freight yard has a significant impact on overall manufacturing operational efficiency, delivery performance and real-time visibility into the supply chain.

Despite this, many companies still use disparate and siloed tools, such as time slot booking or automated gate access. Although they may be technology-driven, these tools only solve specific problems. Yet, yard operations don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re closely connected to transportation management systems (TMS), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and warehouse management systems (WMS). When these systems aren’t communicating, logistical processes aren’t transparent, or technologies can be counter-productive to one another, often resulting in blind spots that create inefficient bottlenecks.

Yard management is playing an increasingly critical role within the manufacturing supply chain, as artificial intelligence transforms it from fragmented, manual operations to integrated systems that enhance efficiency, visibility and control.

The opportunity to improve efficiency lies in integrated yard management: a connected, intelligent system that orchestrates people, vehicles, asset resources and data in real time. It’s about enabling new levels of speed, predictability and proactive control across the logistics network.

To reach its full potential, a modern freight yard management system applies intelligent optimization driven by AI-driven algorithms that recalculate schedules in real time when disruptions occur. The software continuously analyzes data from transportation, warehouse and production systems that recognize real-time yard conditions, and dynamic priorities that manage the entire delivery and receiving processes. Tasks such as assigning docks, coordinating the trailer yard and managing buffer zones are no longer handled manually or reactively.

Instead, they’re guided by data-driven, predictive and situationally aware decision-making. As a result, the smart yard management system evolves from a passive control tool into an active, intelligent partner that accelerates workflows, maximizes resource use and ensures long-term process stability and continuity.

As a local bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola HBC in Edelstal, Austria, produces about 83% percent of Coca-Cola beverages destined for the Austrian market. Up to 90,000 cans per hour, nearly 25 per second, roll off modern production lines prepared for distribution. A continuous stream of about 140 to 200 trucks, inbound and outbound, passes through the plant gate daily to pick up finished products and deliver packaging materials, raw supplies or empty returnable containers. 

All trucks must be registered, weighed and directed efficiently across the site. Trucks, forklifts and staff must be carefully planned and deployed precisely where they’re needed at any given moment.

Earlier yard operations relied heavily on fixed schedules, experience and personnel coordination that required significant manual effort. The goal was to improve the planning of trucking movements and to make them transparent and actively controlled. Utilizing existing capacity more effectively, reducing waiting times, increasing day-to-day planning reliability, cutting operating costs, and boosting both scheduling accuracy and service levels were all goals for a new intelligent system.

“Today, we have full transparency across the entire process — whether a truck is being loaded on time or where delays are occurring,” says Thomas Fraz Topf, warehouse manager at Coca-Cola HBC in Austria. “This allows for much more precise control and more efficient workflows."

To apply these changes, Coca-Cola looked to Syncrosupply from INFORM, an application that includes a time-slot booking portal, where carriers slot their bookings for several customers via one central system. The software allocates slots for deliveries or pick-ups based on on-site availability, priorities and other transport parameters. AI algorithms can optimally reallocate resources in real time if a disruption occurs in any step of the process, and reorganize work or traffic management. For example, site employees know which trucks are on site or scheduled to arrive in the future. With this awareness, the software gives yard management control functions from yard entry to the ramp that calculate optimized traffic sequences to avoid tie-ups or other disruptions. 

Coca-Cola HBC Austria also utilizes an integrated app that supports truck drivers in intelligently managing yard logistics. Drivers have an option of completing registration before their arrival, or completing the process on their own device onsite via a terminal where all relevant information is exchanged, or a mobile device provided to the driver upon arrival. The software alerts drivers with a push notification signaling them to drive forward with mapping guidance. The system is connected to all hardware in the yard, including entry gates, weighing systems and QR readers.

At the same time, forklift drivers receive all relevant information so that loads and time slots are perfectly synchronized. An interface with the onsite hardware infrastructure fully integrates all gates, scales and recognition systems. The process has even been adapted for the first electric trucks, allowing them to be loaded and unloaded directly at the charging stations.

The weighing process is also fully automated, with the truck's incoming weight recorded by the system. After a resource and availability check, the truck is assigned to an appropriate loading position. The waiting forklift driver knows via an integrated app exactly when and what kind of products have to be loaded or unloaded, from which truck. Once the loading process is complete, the securing of the load is documented by a photo. The vehicle is weighed again, and a comparison is made between the actual and planned load weight. Before the truck can leave the premises, the borrowed mobile device is returned via a terminal. 

In addition to outbound shipments, the delivery of raw materials has been integrated into digital control. According to Topf, when a sugar delivery arrives, it’s automatically called up as soon as an unloading point becomes available.

“At the same time, an email is automatically sent to the quality department to initiate sample testing,” he says. “In the past, a forklift driver had to make a phone call and then wait for support. Today, ideally, the responsible quality assurance staff member is already onsite when the truck arrives at the unloading point.”

“Today, we have 100% transparency,” says Topf. “We can track every single step of a truck without gaps: Every timestamp, every movement, every delay is documented and can be analyzed. This allows us to pinpoint opportunities to improve processes or identify problems at an early stage.”

This is especially evident in gate-to-gate time, the total time a vehicle spends onsite. With the software in action, this figure has been reduced by around 45%. Accuracy of on-time completion has also improved noticeably, reaching 85%.

Carriers also benefit. “Our partners know they can rely on us to process their trucks quickly and without long waiting times,” Topf says. “That builds trust and makes daily collaboration much easier.”

Edelstal was the first site within the entire Coca-Cola HBC Group to implement the application. As a pilot project, its rollout at the Austrian plant not only provided the opportunity to optimize local processes, but also served as a blueprint for potential deployments in other countries across the group. The software has since been rolled out at sites in Romania, the Czech Republic, Italy and Serbia. Additional rollouts in Greece and Switzerland are in preparation.

“One major advantage of the system is that it can be flexibly adapted to the processes of different sites,” explains Topf. “Not every location requires the full range of functions we use at Edelstal.” While smaller plants, for instance, might work solely with time-slot booking, other sites have far more complex processes.

Across the company, the implementation in Edelstal is regarded as a flagship project for Industry 4.0.

“With INFORM, we had a partner at our side from the very beginning who understood our requirements and worked with us as equals,” says Topf. “This enabled us to completely rethink our processes and build a solution that is flexibly expandable and has since proven itself at many other sites.” Next steps include working on the integration of a digital twin that will be directly linked with SAP in the future, enabling even more predictive control of operations. 

The team at Coca-Cola HBC Austria earned a highly coveted Logistics Award for this "Automated Yard Management" project. Judges lauded its end-to-end overall process in the yard, powered by optimization algorithms for truck control and handling, and its consideration of real-time factors such as punctuality, load-preparation status, remaining steering times, and loading progress.

Resource Links:

Coca-Cola HBC Austria: https://at.coca-colahellenic.com/en
INFORM: https://www.inform-software.com/en/