Yard Management for Critical Infrastructure Companies

Many companies initially think of enhanced security for particularly sensitive areas, such as server rooms, or of a smart, digital gate for visitors and contractors. Such measures are appropriate and important—and VISIT is happy to assist companies with planning and implementation.

However, companies often overlook one particularly critical area: access to their premises. Yard management and access to loading docks—often referred to as dock and yard management—represent a potential vulnerability. This issue affects not only KRITIS companies in the logistics sector, but also, for example, food retailers, pharmaceutical companies, and industrial facilities with large storage and handling areas.

What is the KRITIS Framework Act about?

The KRITIS Framework Act transposes the EU CER Directive (Critical Entities Resilience, EU 2022/2557) into national law and strengthens the resilience of critical infrastructure in Germany. It defines which facilities qualify as KRITIS entities and sets forth binding requirements for their physical security—such as protective measures, risk assessments, and emergency preparedness. In addition to access controls, this includes, for example, protection against natural hazards or sabotage.

While the KRITIS umbrella law addresses in particular the physical security and resilience of critical facilities, the European NIS2 Directive has a different focus: it sets requirements for the cybersecurity and IT risk management of companies and organizations. Many companies will be affected by both sets of regulations in the future—though with different requirements and priorities.

The KRITIS umbrella law particularly affects companies providing essential services, such as in the energy, water, transportation & logistics, food supply, or pharmaceutical sectors. As a rule, the threshold is set at serving approximately 500,000 people. The goal is to sustainably strengthen the security of supply for systemically important services and to increase the physical resilience of these organizations.

KRITIS Framework Act and Yard Management

Yard management refers to the digital control and coordination of all logistical processes on the factory premises. This includes, in particular:

• Planning and handling of truck deliveries and pickups
• Control of access roads, gates, and loading docks
• Transparent documentation of movements and dwell times

If the yard management system fails, the flow of goods quickly comes to a standstill in many KRITIS facilities. At the same time, this area serves as a central access point to the facility grounds.

Dock and yard management therefore also includes:

• Registration and screening of truck drivers
• Management of contractors and visitors
• Control and documentation of access routes
• Access controls to sensitive areas

This makes it clear: Professional yard management is not only a logistical tool but also an important component of a company’s physical security architecture.

Security Requirements and State of the Art

Neither the KRITIS Framework Act nor the NIS2 Directive sets out specific technical requirements for the implementation of yard management systems. Instead, they require a level of security in line with the “state of the art.”

In practice, this means, for example:

• traceable and secure access controls
• transparent documentation of entries and vehicle access
• identity verification using an ID card or passport
• protection of the underlying IT systems
• audit-proof logging of security-related events

Security standards such as ISO 27001-compliant access controls, which define structured requirements for information security management, provide a potential foundation for this. ASTRUM IT meets these requirements with relevant certifications and many years of experience in regulated industries.

Digital Pre-Registration and Documentation

In general, it may be advisable to prevent unannounced trucks from entering the plant premises in the first place. Through digital pre-registration, drivers can be registered and screened in advance. This also allows safety briefings to be conducted well in advance, before drivers and vehicles reach potential hazard zones.

Since KRITIS companies are now required to report security incidents, audit-proof documentation of access and entry points is also becoming increasingly important. With traditional visitor logs, this is hardly feasible for KRITIS companies anymore.

Digital systems enable significantly better traceability in this regard. At the same time, they also streamline organizational processes in an emergency, such as the rapid creation of evacuation lists.