Implementing automated and secure gate access…how your warehouse can realize the benefits

While Warehouse Management Systems have been around for nearly 50 years, the last few years has seen a rapid acceleration and adoption in the digitization and automation of most processes inside the warehouse’s four walls. Each of these innovations has helped operators reduce operating costs, eliminate process bottlenecks, and enable business growth.

But there is one component, critical to most warehouse and distribution center operations, which so far hasn’t been automated and still depends heavily on manual procedures. This is the process for drivers to check in and receive secure access through the facility gate.

The Current State

In today’s logistics operations, it is commonplace for truck drivers to be either greeted by a security guard when they arrive at the facility gate or not come across a gate at all, allowing unfettered access to a facility’s yard. Both options present significant operational challenges. In the case of ungated sites, there are security concerns. Anyone can access the location; however, the high cost to hire and train guards to operate the gate is too cost prohibitive.

Then at locations that have a guarded gate, while sometimes this security guard serves an important function, assisting with seal, temperature, or CTPAT, often times the guard is predominantly there to radio a warehouse operator to confirm if the driver has an appointment, communicate to the driver where they should go, and push the button to open the gate. 

These processes are familiar to many site operators and are the way things have operated for decades, however neither is optimal and have several shortcomings:

• Training of third-party guards who turnover frequently and where quality varies greatly
• Gate congestion and traffic backups whenever the driver or guard don’t know what to do
• Out of date paper-based processes with the guard working off printouts of the daily plan
• Inaccurate or unknown truck arrival and departure times if the guard forgets to write down that information
• Inefficient dock and yard operations if drivers go to the incorrect location
• And unsecure sites because either drivers can directly access the facility without a gate or the guard, unsure of processes, pushes the button letting anyone who shows up onto the yard.

Most sites have one or two key people who can make the manual operations run smoothly, but when they aren’t available it’s a struggle. Too often drivers are left frustrated, operations staff work inefficiently, and reports and data are inaccessible, combined impacting operational costs.

The Solution

Thankfully there is now a solution to this challenge that is both cost effective and easy to implement. Busy warehouses and distribution centers wanting to automate their gate and save money by either eliminating existing guards or not hiring them in the first place, all without sacrificing security, can choose myQ Enterprise.  myQ Enterprise is the only intelligent hardware and software solution that digitizes driver check in, smartly directs drivers where to go, and securely opens and closes the gate – all without any manual intervention from the warehouse staff.

Moving a facility to automated, secure and guardless check-in brings a significant number of benefits:

1. Reduces the amount of labor (and cost) required to manage appointments into and out of the facility
2. Removes gate congestion by providing drivers with multiple, simple to use options for check in – mobile, SMS, and smart kiosk – so regardless of their tech-savviness, there’s a method that works for them
3. Connects the facility directly to drivers with automated communication, providing clear instructions on exactly where the driver needs to be, so they can get in and out of the yard and loading dock as quickly as possible
4. Eliminates out-of-date paper processes with intelligent dock assignment and yard routing based on the real-time information of the busy facility
5. Systematically captures the arrival & departure time, no longer depending on someone to write it down or manually input it into a system, so personnel know exactly what trailers are on site and how long they’ve been there
6. Provides secure, verified access to the site, because drivers are only allowed access after verifying appointment information

In addition to the process benefits that automating the gate brings to busy distribution centers, there are also tremendous hard dollar savings sites see. For example, with myQ Enterprise one customer eliminated their gate security guards and realized more than $50K in annual savings solely from this single benefit.

Visit Enterprise.myQ.com to learn more about how implementing automated and secure gate access will help your facility optimize check-in, reduce trailer on-site times, provide a better driver experience, and reduce labor costs all while improving security.