The Chemours Company adopts a yard management system that has helped organize the chaos of managing a high-volume DC.

Founded in 2015 as a spinoff from DuPont, The Chemours Co., is a global chemical company that makes performance chemicals used by the oil refinery, agricultural, automotive, energy, and consumer electronics industries.

Based in Wilmington, Del., the manufacturer’s logistics operation includes 63 global warehouses and 47 contract manufacturing locations. Up until 2018, the company managed its yards and equipment using a mix of redundant, manual processes. As a result, it struggled with numerous logistical and supply chain issues, including no single source of truth for data and insights.

Finding the Right YMS

Starting with its Pass Christian, Miss., plant, Chemours investigated about 10 different types of YMS before selecting PINC YMS for an initial implementation at that location. “I whittled my list down to about four providers and then had our internal indirect buying group help map out our project scope,” says Paul Day, global category manager for warehouse and airfreight. “PINC won the bid by providing the biggest benefit for us.”

Chemours has since reduced detention and demurrage fees by about $1.5 million (for both ocean and truckload). With its YMS, Chemours can maintain and manage its equipment needs in almost real-time. It has visibility over its trailers and carriers and knows exactly how many assets are empty and where they’re located.

Organizing the Chaos

With one source of truth to work from and a less congested yard, Chemours has also improved its throughput with visibility across six total yards. “Once we could see our equipment across those six yards, it started to unlock other opportunities for continuous improvement,” says Day, whose team stopped using spreadsheets and cut down on the amount of redundant work that it was doing.

“We also eliminated all radios, so there’s no more having to call drivers to find out where they are,” says Day. “We all know what’s going on.” Chemours experienced similar results when rolling out PINC YMS at its New Johnsonville, Tenn., location in 2019. It’s now looking to replicate those wins at some of its other high-volume locations.

“The PINC project management methodology helped us look at our ‘as-is,’ compare notes with other companies that have done this before, and then pick and choose what option best suited us,” says Day. “For us, it was a slam dunk; a no brainer. Our YMS organized the chaos of managing a high-volume DC.”