Tech Update: Yard Management Improves With RFID

By Brian Albright, Field Technologies magazine

Yard management solutions rely on up-to-the-minute data on cargo, asset, and vehicle locations. Companies have utilized RFID (radio frequency identification) and RTLS technology to track assets more effectively and enable cost-saving solutions like unmanned gate operations.

These solutions are being enhanced by integrating data about what inventory is available in each trailer and tying that inventory to a dock/scheduling or warehouse management receiving system. The addition of wireless sensors, wireless LAN, GPS, or Bluetooth can increase the amount of information available to guide yard operations. "The yard management solutions industry is trending towards a flexible application platform that offers plug and play connectivity and includes prebuilt functionalities relating to business-specific processes and workflows," says Leif Chastaine, vice president of sales and business development at InSync Software.