Trade shows come and go. But every so often, one captures exactly where the industry is heading—and Warehouse. & Yard. 2026 did just that.

On 30 June and 1 July, the C3 Solutions team joined thousands of logistics professionals at the NEC Birmingham for two packed days of demos, conversations, and connections. The result? A clearer picture than ever of what warehouse and yard operators need right now—and how automation is answering the call.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the highlights of the show, the biggest themes we heard on the floor, and what it all means for your yard and dock operations. Let’s dive in!

What is Warehouse. & Yard. 2026?

Warehouse. & Yard. is the UK’s only exhibition with a dedicated focus on warehouse and yard operations. Born from the evolution of IWLEX and YardEx, the 2026 edition marked a major milestone: for the first time, the show was co-located with Multimodal—the UK’s flagship freight and transport event—as part of UK Logistics Week.

The setup was simple but powerful. Warehousing, yard management, transport, and freight, all under one roof at the NEC Birmingham, Hall 3A. One badge, thousands of industry professionals, and two days of ideas, technology, and connections.

For C3 Solutions, it was a natural fit. As specialists in yard management and dock scheduling for over 25 years, we go where the yard conversation happens. And this year, it happened in Birmingham.

5 Key Themes We Heard on the Show Floor

What’s keeping warehouse and yard leaders up at night in 2026?

Well, after two days of back-to-back conversations at stand [stand number], the answers were remarkably consistent. Here’s a closer look at the themes:

Yard Visibility Is Still the #1 Pain Point: “We don’t know where our trailers are” was the sentence we heard most. Teams running sites on spreadsheets, radios, and gut feel are hitting a wall—and they know it. Real-time yard visibility has moved from nice-to-have to non-negotiable.

Detention Fees Are Climbing: With carrier costs under pressure, operations leaders need hard data on dwell times and gate accountability. Capturing timestamps at every yard event—automatically—was a conversation starter at nearly every demo.

Manual Dock Scheduling Has Run Its Course: Phone calls, emails, and shared inboxes can’t keep up with modern appointment volumes. Visitors from grocery, retail, manufacturing, and 3PL alike were actively looking for a smarter way to book, manage, and measure dock appointments.

The Yard Is the Missing Link: Thanks to the Multimodal co-location, we also spoke with freight forwarders, transport planners, and e-commerce operators. Their message? The yard is the gap between transport and the warehouse—and closing it is now a board-level priority.

Labor Is Precious—Automation Fills the Gap: From gatehouse check-ins to shunter moves, teams want repetitive coordination handled by software so their people can focus on work that adds real value.

Now that we’ve covered what the industry is saying, let’s look at what happened on our stand!

Highlights From the C3 Solutions Stand

Curious about what two days at the NEC actually look like?

Here’s what stood out for our team:

Live Demos of C3 Yard: Nothing lands like seeing a real-time, drag-and-drop yard map in action. For many visitors, watching trailers move across the screen was the moment the penny dropped.

C3 Reservations in the Spotlight: Dock scheduling drew serious attention, especially from teams ready to retire the spreadsheet.

Reconnecting with the C3 Summit Community: It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces from our C3 Summit UK event earlier this year and to keep those conversations going in person.

Quality Over Quantity: The show’s pre-qualified audience meant fewer badge scans and more genuine, project-driven conversations. Exactly what we look for in an event.

Why Events Like This Matter for Your Operations

How does a trade show translate into better supply chain performance?

It comes down to exposure. In two days, an operations leader can compare technologies side by side, pressure-test vendors face to face, and benchmark against peers—compressing months of research into 48 hours. For an industry moving as fast as ours, that’s time and money well spent.

Take Your Yard to the Next Level with C3 Solutions

Missed us at the show? No problem.

If trailers go missing in your yard, detention fees keep creeping up, or your team still books docks by phone and email, the conversations we had in Birmingham apply to you too. Smart yard management and automated dock scheduling cut costs, boost safety, and improve on-time performance—and we’ve spent 25+ years proving it across retail, grocery, manufacturing, and 3PL.

Curious to see what we showed on the stand?

Contact C3 Solutions today to book a personalized demo of C3 Yard or C3 Reservations, and discover how we can make your yard more visible, your docks more productive, and your next peak season your smoothest yet!