At its Edelstal site, Coca-Cola HBC Austria has largely automated the entire truck flow. Using the intelligent yard management software Syncrosupply from Inform, the company significantly reduced truck turnaround times while increasing on-time performance. The project is now considered a best practice within the Coca-Cola HBC Group and received the Austrian Logistics Award in 2021.
High production output at Coca-Cola requires precise logistics
At the Edelstal facility in Austria’s Burgenland region, Coca-Cola HBC Austria produces around 83 percent of the beverages destined for the domestic market. Modern filling lines process up to 90,000 cans per hour. As a result, the site handles substantial inbound and outbound traffic, with an average of 140 trucks entering and leaving the facility each day. During peak seasons, such as summer or the Christmas period, that number can rise to as many as 200 trucks per day. In addition to finished beverages, packaging materials, raw materials, and returnable containers are transported. Roughly one in four trucks carries returnable packaging, which is processed on-site and fed directly back into production.
Complex yard operations as a bottleneck
The high volume of deliveries and shipments made more precise yard coordination essential. Every truck must be registered, weighed, and directed efficiently across the site. The objective was to minimize waiting times, improve capacity utilization, and increase operational transparency. Previously, yard processes relied heavily on fixed time slots and manual coordination. Thomas Franz Topf, Warehouse Manager at Coca-Cola HBC Austria, explains that in the past, the company had access only to basic information such as arrival, loading, or departure times, and that tracking required significant manual effort. Today, he notes, the company has full visibility across the entire process, including whether trucks are loaded on time and where delays occur, enabling more precise control and more efficient workflows.
Digital control with intelligent yard management software
By implementing Syncrosupply, Coca-Cola HBC Austria fundamentally modernized its yard management. The software combines digital dock scheduling with intelligent yard control and manages all truck movements, from initial check-in to final exit. Carriers book time slots via a centralized portal. The system automatically considers factors such as personnel availability, forklift capacity, and transport priorities. If delays occur or loading bays are occupied, the planning is dynamically adjusted.
A dedicated driver app supports the entire process. From pre-self check-in to on-site navigation, drivers receive all relevant instructions directly on their mobile devices. Barriers, scales, and identification systems are fully integrated into the system. Electric trucks are also accommodated, with processes adapted to allow loading and unloading at charging stations.
Transparency drives efficiency
The improvements are particularly evident in the so-called gate-to-gate time, which measures the total time a vehicle spends on site. Since the project launch, Coca-Cola HBC Austria has reduced this time by approximately 45 percent. At the same time, on-time performance has increased to 85 percent. Topf emphasizes that the company now has complete transparency, with every truck movement, timestamp, and delay fully documented and analyzable. This level of visibility, he explained, allows the team to identify optimization potential and detect issues at an early stage. He also pointed out that logistics partners benefit from the improvements, as reliable and predictable handling without long waiting times strengthens trust and simplifies daily collaboration.
Pilot project for the Coca-Cola HBC Group
Edelstal was the first site within the Coca-Cola HBC Group to implement the solution. The successful rollout served as a blueprint for other facilities. Syncrosupply has since been deployed in Romania, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Serbia, with additional sites in preparation. The system’s flexibility allows it to adapt to site-specific requirements. While smaller plants may primarily use the dock scheduling function, larger facilities can implement more complex trailer yard concepts, where tractors and trailers are managed separately to decouple transport and loading operations.
Next step: digital twin and intelligent transport control
Coca-Cola HBC Austria is already preparing the next stage of digitalization. The company is working on integrating a digital twin connected directly to SAP, enabling even more predictive process control. At the same time, the Italian facility in Nogara is preparing to introduce an intelligent transport control system designed to further optimize internal vehicle movements and increase transparency. With Inform as its technology partner, Coca-Cola HBC Austria has comprehensively digitalized its yard management processes, demonstrating how Coca-Cola sites can enhance logistics performance through intelligent software solutions.
