A Model for Agile Yard Operations
Supply chains are operating in one of the most unpredictable environments in decades. Tariff fears and trade policy swings continue to disrupt global activity, and as one former UN trade expert recently noted, the rapid changes have left logistics leaders navigating a climate where “the rules can change overnight.” The stakes are high. According to a 2025 Supply Chain Statistics report, the average cost of a supply chain disruption is $1.5 million per day, and 94% of companies report revenue impacts from such disruptions. Logistics organizations recognize the need for resilience, flexibility, and agility. In fact, 93% of senior supply chain executives plan to make their operations far more adaptive. In this environment, operating models must be both robust and adaptable, and the yard is central to this shift.
The yard links transportation, warehousing, and inventory flow. When yard operations stall, the entire supply chain slows. Today, industry leaders recognize that the yard is more than a staging area: it is a strategic performance driver that directly impacts costs, customer satisfaction, and safety.
Smart businesses are embedding yard operations into broader organizational frameworks, ensuring alignment across functions and enabling agile, high-impact decision-making.
Why a Unified Framework Matters
Some vendors promote a stand-alone yard operating system. While intriguing, this approach can create another silo in an already fragmented supply chain. Nearly half of all organizations fail to meet at least half of their strategic targets, and disjointed functions are likely to increase this disconnect.
The yard should not be managed separately. In today’s volatile supply chain — where disruption costs are high and agility is essential — embedding the yard into the broader business framework ensures transportation, warehousing, inventory, and yard activities work toward the same goals. This alignment eliminates silos, increases accountability, and enables companies to adapt quickly without losing sight of long-term objectives.
Technology as the Backbone of Alignment
Technology delivers the visibility and automation needed to connect yard operations to enterprise goals. A dedicated Yard Management System (YMS) designed for the unique needs of the yard, integrated with WMS, TMS, ERP, and carrier platforms, provides the backbone for strategic decision-making.
When deployed as part of a unified framework, a YMS can:
- Automate routine tasks to freeing staff for higher-value work.
- Integrate data across systems to ensure decisions rely on accurate, real-time information, addressing the fact that only 53% of supply chain leaders rate their master data quality as adequate.
- Leverage analytics and monitor KPIs to track progress toward operational and strategic goals, helping businesses overcome the 6% full supply chain visibility gap.
- Strengthen collaboration and communication to keep everyone aligned.
- Ensure enterprise-grade security with SOC 2-compliant controls, encrypted data flows, and role-based access, addressing the 55.6% of companies that cite cybersecurity as a primary risk.
- Use predictive analytics to anticipate bottlenecks and provide automated move guidance.
- Incorporate smart cameras for real-time visibility, gate automation, and proactive safety monitoring.
Technology provides data and automation, but performance comes from balancing it with people and processes to maintain cohesion and alignment with strategic goals.
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The Agile Yard Operating Model
To ensure yard operations support — not hinder — business strategy, organizations need a clear model that balances structure with adaptability. We call this The Agile Yard Operating Model, built on four key pillars:
1. Strategically Embed
The yard should not operate as a siloed system. Embedding it into the broader business framework ensures alignment across transportation, warehousing, and inventory, eliminating disconnects and driving cohesive execution.
Outcome: This transforms the yard into an integrated performance driver rather than a standalone cost center.
2. Technology Powers Success
YMS and connected tools provide automation, integration, and visibility, making technology the backbone for achieving strategic alignment and operational excellence.
Outcome: This ensures organizations can execute strategy in real time with speed, accuracy, and transparency.
3. Human Oversight & Guardrails
While automation reduces friction, human expertise ensures exceptions are managed effectively and strategic choices remain aligned with business priorities. By establishing clear guardrails, teams can evaluate performance, adapt to disruptions, and maintain accountability.
Outcome: This provides confidence that operations stay resilient, responsive, and strategically sound.
4. Continuous Review & Alignment
A structured review process — monthly alignment checks against KPIs with an annual refresh of overarching goals — keeps organizations nimble while maintaining focus on long-term objectives.
Outcome: This creates a feedback loop that sustains agility, ensuring the yard adapts as the business evolves.
This model transforms the yard from a tactical staging ground into a strategic performance driver, tightly connected to business goals while retaining the flexibility to adapt in a rapidly evolving environment.
People, Process, and Technology Working Together
The best results come from balancing technology and automation with human judgment, all aligned to broader business strategy. Technology handles routine tasks such as gate check-ins and trailer moves, allowing staff to focus on resolving exceptions and strengthening customer and partner relationships.
Standardization drives efficiency, and flexibility enables customization by site, asset, geography, or regulatory requirements. The result is consistent execution where it matters and adaptability where it counts, keeping operations aligned with strategic goals.
Embedding the Yard into a Strategic Framework
Embedding the yard into your broader business framework ensures it drives — not drags — supply chain performance. By aligning people, process, and technology within a single operating model, organizations transform the yard from a bottleneck into a strategic advantage.
In today’s volatile supply chain, the question isn’t whether to modernize yard operations, but how quickly you can make the shift.
At YardView, we take a consultative approach, working with each client to integrate yard operations into their larger strategy. Built for the unique challenges of the yard since 1998, our adaptable YMS solutions are designed to align with business goals, deliver measurable impact, and give organizations the ability to operate with speed and confidence.
