SAP Yard Logistics Implementation for the Improved Floor Transport Load Planning

Thanks to the SAP Yard Logistics-based solution developed by LeverX, the client has improved cargo planning, preparing, loading, and unloading.

leverx group

Thanks to the SAP Yard Logistics-based solution developed by LeverX, the client has improved cargo planning, preparing, loading, and unloading.

Customer

A large truck manufacturer whose employees daily transport thousands of spare parts on forklifts, from the warehouse to the long conveyor belt, and back.

Challenge

The customer was unable to solve incidents rapidly (spare parts aren’t available for shipping, the forklift is out of order, etc.), used a time-consuming process to prepare shipping manifests, and lacked transparency in monitoring the movement of forklifts, and others.

SOLUTION

To successfully deal with these and other issues that arise when supplying production lines with materials, the company decided to implement a solution for floor transportation management.

Project Scope

Integration with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Data about shipment orders are sent from the ERP system to SAP YL, which is used to set up a logistics plan for forklifts.
SAP YL receives the real-time notification of a manifest document generated in SAP ERP and creates a shipment order.

Integration with Transportation Management (TM)

Integrating SAP YL with SAP TM ensured timely loading and unloading of trucks using several ramps within one freight order.

Integration with a third-party GPS tracking solution

Integrating SAP YL with the client’s third-party solution helps track the real-time locations of transportation units.

Development of mobile applications with Xamarin

Our team moved away from orthodox SAP Fiori apps and developed customized mobile solutions with Xamarin.

Application 1: created for a forklift driver to update task statuses.
Application 2: built for a task manager — an employee who is in charge of check-in and check-out shipment orders and creating tasks for forklift drivers. The solution allows them to create tasks for drivers automatically.

Adding a new transportation unit ‘’tare’’ to create an accounting system

The tare is now registered via orders, which allows the client to monitor its workload status in the system when accounting is required.

Building an application for vehicle routes that connects different storage bins

The LeverX Group teams developed a separate business object to maintain vehicle routes. The application offers an opportunity to edit, block, and join them in service areas.

Building an algorithm to choose a forklift for specific tasks

To streamline the workflow of enterprise resources, we offered the algorithm to search for an appropriate forklift and services area. The system takes into account drivers’ availability, workload, and real-time location (due to the integration with GPS) and then assigns an available employee to a task based on the three criteria.

Displaying route prompts in mobile applications for drivers

We transferred the plant’s physical map into a digital space to enhance the training of new drivers. As a result, vehicle routes and a recommended sequence are displayed in mobile applications for forklift drivers.

Visualizing a transfer platform according to an up-to-date positioning of storage bins

Our team configured the plant’s map with SAP Visual Business, an out-of-the-box component included in SAP Yard Logistics.

Workload planning report

LeverX experts created a user-friendly report form that comprised the information about planned orders for tomorrow/next week/next month (or the specified time) based on the data collected from the ERP system.
Thanks to the report, the manager can distribute forklift drivers within service areas and change positions based on their workload, optimizing the distribution of employees within the areas.

Solution Description

The solution aimed to meet the challenges below:

Make the floor transport loading process more efficient by solving the following tasks:

Track and analyze historical and dynamic data about forklifts’ work during a shift;
Reduce waiting time while loading/unloading a vehicle.

Improve shipping, loading, and unloading operations, as follows:

Prevent incidents, such as delays in loading materials;
Ensure efficient cooperation of managers and yard workers.

Monitor the task execution status and vehicle availability, including:

Track vehicle locations in real-time;
Optimize vehicle routes.

Streamline operations with shipping manifests and forklift workflow, in particular:

Fill in and keep electronic manifests;
Ensure efficient communication with yard workers (using mobile applications instead of phone calls).

SAP Yard Logistics can solve all the requirements mentioned above.

It is possible with mobile maintenance scenarios and two SAP solutions, SAP Work Manager (SAP WM) и SAP Asset Manager (SAP AM). They provide access to information on asset statuses and allow you to maintain them comprehensively.

SAP WM is a mobile application with wider functionality that offers both on-premise and cloud hosting capabilities.

SAP AM is a more modern cloud-based solution that can be integrated with innovative SAP Cloud Platform IoT.

Both solutions help to improve enterprise asset productivity with constant monitoring, analytics, and timely diagnostics.

Technology Stack

ABAP

BOPF

FPM

FBI

OData

Web services

Document Management

Document Release
Material Master Release and Extension
Sales Order Release
Manufacturing Instruction Release

Request Management

Procurement Request
Tooling Change Request
Shop Floor Issue Request
Customer Issue Request
Plant Maintenance Work Request
Request for Quote

An automated solution for yard management helps the client avoid unnecessary movements of forklifts and non-optimal routes.
Instead of vehicle downtime or redundancy, the client received optimized task distribution and strict adherence to shipment plans.
Due to integrated ERP and TM solutions, the customer has automated and boosted the transferring of shipment orders from third-party systems.
The implemented solution also takes into account shipment incidents, as mobile applications perform shipment tasks and notify when repair or assistance is required.
The GPS feature helps monitor shipping to a particular destination location, while an opportunity to select a forklift based on its workload and location ensures a systematic, optimized approach to task distribution.

The customer can leverage the solution’s capabilities to improve performance resulting in increased business revenue. The client also plans to use the implemented system for driverless forklifts.