Using the Kaleris yard management system, drivers can view trailer move requests in a shared queue that replaces phone-based coordination. The system gives drivers and dock staff real-time visibility into each move, streamlining communication across the yard.
board and take the move closest to them. “We’re able to facilitate the closest move within proximity, saving fuel and time,” Hinson says. The team also created a dedicated staging area for green coffee trailers. First- shift drivers queue up the trailers they know the second shift will need, placing them within about 100 yards of the roaster instead of miles away. As a result, spotters can grab the next trailer quickly. “It’s like a shortstop making the play,” Hinson says. These combined efficiencies allow Westrock to increase output using the same resources. Most notably, the time needed to move a green coffee trailer from acceptance to roasting dropped from roughly 45-50 minutes to about 15 minutes. “It continues to be a big win,” Hinson says. USER-FRIENDLY SOLUTION For Hinson, one of the biggest advantages of the Kaleris platform is its ease of use. He admits he never considered himself especially tech-savvy, yet he was able to jump in immediately. “I can go in and create attributes, categories, and boxes without ever having to submit an IT ticket. The user can do it themselves,” he says. That level of accessibility is intentional. Lauber explains that the user interface has evolved through years of direct collaboration with customers like Westrock
Coffee. “We’ve worked hard to make the interface role-specific and highly configurable,” he says. From the beginning, the application was designed to adapt to each operation’s terminology, workflow, and level of detail—whether a site needs a full picture at the gate or just a quick snapshot. For companies like Westrock that span manufacturing and distribution, the interface remains consistent across environments, reducing training time and friction. Westrock has also taken advantage of the platform’s broader capabilities, from inventory to accounting functions. But Hinson notes that software alone isn’t the solution—discipline is. “If it’s used properly, with supervisors and managers holding teams accountable, you’ll actually have software, not shelfware,” he says. That commitment has allowed the company to scale, adding sites while maintaining system-wide visibility and efficiency. The relationship between the two organizations continues to strengthen. “I admire Westrock’s discipline in using the system, and they get a lot of value from it,” Lauber says. That shared focus on communication, flexibility, and continuous improvement, which dates back to that very first phone call, keeps both teams aligned moving forward.
replaced by live trailer visibility the entire plant could depend on. The accuracy and immediacy of the data quickly proved their value. “It took about six months to get everybody off paper and onto the platform,” Hinson recalls. “But once they saw a system that told them where every trailer was and what was on it, they couldn’t believe it.” That real-time view remains one of the YMS’s biggest strengths. Hinson notes it delivers significant time savings across departments and strengthens decision- making from the warehouse floor to executive leadership. “It makes a big difference,” he says. “It’s a huge time saver for our team.” The YMS has completely changed the way drivers and dock staff communicate. It has long removed the need for constant phone calls by keeping every move visible in one shared queue. Instead of a dock worker making three or four calls to coordinate a single trailer movement, the request now lives in the system where all drivers can see it. This visibility matters. Some of Westrock’s operations span a remote yard two miles away, the main facility, and an additional roasting plant eight miles up the road. Before the YMS, a move might be assigned to whichever driver happened to get the phone call, even if they were 10 miles away. Now every driver can see the
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