automation equipment has grown more sophisticated, it has been employed in more complex facilities, giving rise to WES nomenclature for systems that integrate advanced controls and WMS capabilities. As more features are added to each side, the distinction between a high-end WES and WMS blurs. Yard Management Software is generally aimed at large facilities and organisations that manage their own transport fleet. It can be a standalone system, or a module of a WMS or SCMS. In terms of functionality, a YMS may track an inventory of vehicles, parking spaces and resources, coordinate the movement of full and empty trailers, or manage appointments in order to better predict workload. Dock Scheduling may be available as a component of a YMS, SCMS or WMS, but usually with a low level of sophistication. Standalone dock scheduling software more frequently includes features that acquire data about incoming loads in advance, or restrict carriers to specific time slots or durations. Market According to a report by Grand View Research, “The global warehouse management system market size is expected to grow from US$2.8 billion in 2021 to $6.1 billion by 2026, at a compound annual growth rate of 16.7%.” The authors of Warehouse Science note that “there are over 300 WMS vendors in the US alone. The largest companies hold less than 20% of the market.” Limitations Edward Frazelle, the founding director of Georgia Tech Supply Chain and Logistics Institute, argues that while the demands on warehouses are increasing in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, “warehouses today have... less warehouse management system capability (a by-product of Y2K investments in enterprise resource planning systems)” Researchers from the Business School at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands have pointed out that “a standard WMS remains largely making compromises between the way a warehouse wants to work and the way the system allows the warehouse to work. In certain environments, such compromises might seriously degrade warehouse performance.” Many researchers and analysts have pointed out that receiving operations, which account for about 17% of warehouse operating costs, are a particular area where contemporary warehouse management systems tend to fall short, particularly insofar as pre-scheduling and communications with external carriers, customers and suppliers represents a bottleneck. Software vendors have suggested that “In cases where moving away from a legacy WMS is not possible, its shortcomings can still be addressed by smart integrations, earning the warehouse breathing room in the medium-term.”