Yard Smart Keeps Ford’s Mega-Parts Facility Humming

Up until recently, Ford’s 3.3-million-square-foot parts redistribution center in Romulus, Michigan was in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest distribution center. When Ford went looking for help rationalizing their yard, they were looking for a solution that wouldn’t just help them speed things up, but also give them the ability to track and manage every trailer in the yard, whether it was at a dock or not.

The challenge

One of the big issues on Ford’s mind at their Romulus facility was trailer detention. Because of the constant flow and nature of their contracts with transportation providers, detention charges and trailer parking were major issues costing Ford money, creating congestion and making it difficult to run an efficient operation. Without the ability to track trailers, their contents and locations constantly, Ford was being charged trailer detention fees regularly by its suppliers and – to add insult to injury – suppliers were using Ford’s facility as a parking lot for their unused trailers.

The solution

After an in-depth evaluation, Ford selected Yard Smart because not only was it going to increase gate turnover, speed dock door turnaround, and reduce the number of drivers and tractors needed to run the yard, it also promised to turn one of its biggest headaches into a non-issue using Yard Smart’s Trailer Detention Module. Yard Smart helped Ford reduce its trailer detention charges for the Romulus facility by 75 percent. As if that wasn’t enough, the software also gave Ford the capacity to levy counter charges against transport companies who were creating congestion by using its yard as a trailer depot. Ford was even able to track charge-backs for maintenance on trailers that were part of the transporter’s obligations, creating further revenue.

During the last two years Yard Smart and C3 have played an integral role in helping us achieve our operational goals.

Without a doubt, Yard Smart has become a brick in the foundation at Ford PRC.

Mike Skinner
Manager,
Customer Service Division,
Brownstown Parts Redistribution Center