In order to maintain unbroken cold chain for time and temperature sensitive shipments such as pharmaceuticals and perishables, GMR Hyderabad International Airport has ramped up its cargo capabilities by introducing a Multi ULD (Unit Load Device) Cool Dolly. The Multi ULD Cool Dolly at Hyderabad Air Cargo was virtually launched today by Vandana Aggarwal (IES), Senior Economic Advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) during the third Webinar on ‘Air Cargo-Changing Dimensions’ organised by GMR Group as part of its ongoing webinar series on ‘Reposing the faith in flying’. Comprising of a steel trailer and aluminum insulated container, the Cool Dolly acts as a mobile storage unit from air cargo terminal to the aircraft. They provide an unbroken cold chain to all the perishable shipments of temperatures of +2⁰C to +8⁰C and +15⁰C to +25⁰C and can handle around 7-tons of cargo in a single trip.

The unprecedented COVID-19 impact will lead to quite a few changes in the Indian logistics industry, since the pandemic is now a reality that we all have to live with for a long time. Increased demand for home deliveries is likely to continue in future and logistics companies need to improve their last-mile delivery models. To meet the rising demand for home deliveries, businesses must immediately optimise key assets such as staff and vehicle capacity. They can leverage advanced crowd sourcing technologies to optimise staff capacity by on-boarding temporary or part-time delivery executives from across disparate delivery provider ecosystems.  

CEVA Logistics has launched an all-in-one portal named myCEVA to enable shippers in managing their complete shipping journey online. The online tool provides a seamless customer experience by giving them greater control over every function and a larger range of options whatever the circumstances. The portal has been designed to give customers greater control over the booking process while simultaneously improving efficiency through greater process automation. Customers can instantly receive quotes, make bookings and track shipments in real time, which will enhance the customer experience.   After a successful pilot phase in the US in May 2020, myCEVA is working towards covering all transport modes in every region of the world and has been launched in a phased manner with FCL and LCL ocean freight customers using specific trade lanes from/to the US, China and India.

Maersk’s customer-oriented mobile app witnesses highest usage amongst customers in India. With over 4,000 users, India topped the charts globally amongst the countries where Maersk’s customers are actively using the mobile app. Over 1.8 million actions by customers were recorded on the app in the second quarter of 2020 (April to June). These were more than double of those recorded in the first quarter of 2020 (January to March). These include any action performed by users on the app like booking, tracking, checking schedules, live support etc. “As the pandemic spread across geography, our, as well as most of our customers’ operations, shifted bases to their employees’ homes. It then became imperative for the customers to adopt the digital tools for carrying out businesses from the comforts of their homes. Having invested in digital transformation over the last few years, we could provide this immediately to our customers,” said, Steve Felder, Managing Director – South Asia, Maersk.

1377 exporters, who fraudulently claimed IGST refund worth Rs 1,875 crore, are untraceable at their place of business. Responding to this, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO said, “This has caused great anguish and setback to the exporting community.” On behalf of export organisations, Saraf extended full co-operation to the government to trace them. “Every exporter has a PAN and a bank account before he applies for Importer Exporter Code. For opening the bank account, necessary KYC is done by banks also besides introduction of account by another customer. DGFT also keeps their email, telephone and bank details including the photograph of the person who applies for IEC. Exporters are also required to have GST registration providing email and mobile number, which is cross verified through electronic mode. The registration of exporters is also done at Customs and bank details are captured in which IGST amount is credited. These exporters may also be members of some Export Promotion Councils/Authorities/Commodity Boards/FIEO who can also help in providing necessary information available with them. The Star exporters also submit Chartered Accountant Certificates, which are also at times verified by the licensing authorities,” informs President. “We need to pool the information available, with all the agencies, to locate them as a few black sheep should not dent the image of genuine exporters of the country,” he says. Saraf added that the government should further proceed in the matter by immediately issuing them suitable show cause notices. If they do not respond, DGFT should initiate action to suspend/cancel their IEC making them ineligible for further exports/imports and authorities should initiate proceedings against them to recover government money.

Talking about how COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerabilities of complex global supply chains built on lean manufacturing principles, Saurabh Trikha, Director, Aargus Global Logistics, says. “This is true in the healthcare sector, where the scramble for protective equipment has laid bare the inherent risks of inventory and single-sourcing models driven exclusively by cost control. The impact of China’s lockdown and its dominance in key areas of manufacturing have further highlighted the problem with modern supply chains. One likely consequence is that global firms will diversify their supply chains in the future, instead of relying only on China. Manufacturing hubs such as Vietnam, Mexico, and India are likely to benefit from that shift.”

Saudia Cargo has operated more than 1500 flights since March 2020, when the COVID-19 restrictions came into effect. According to the carrier, 500 of these flights have been operated using passenger aircraft deployed for international air cargo. From March through June, Saudia Cargo has transported around 75,000 tons of vital shipments to the Kingdom including medical and PPE equipment as part of the Saudi health authorities’ efforts to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Omar Hariri, CEO, Saudia Cargo, says, “We have created largest cargo air bridge to deliver vital goods and medical equipment to KSA during COVID-19 pandemic,” in adding, “The company has operated a combined fleet of freighter and passenger aircraft enhancing all operations related to the air transportation of medical equipment and medicines to the Kingdom in order to mitigate the economic and health impact of COVID-19.”

Exports from India fell 12.41 per cent from a year earlier to US$ 21.91 billion in June 2020, led by lower sales of gems & jewelry (-50.06 percent), leather & leather products (-40.47 percent), RMG of all textiles (-34.84 percent), man-made yarn, fabrics (-31.98 percent) and petroleum products (-31.65 percent). Considering the April to June period, exports declined 36.71 percent year-on-year to USD 51.32 billion. Responding to June export figures, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO, said, “The monthly figures have yet again shown drastic arrest in decline of exports on the back of the opening of business activities across the major economies of the globe.” Saraf further added that the June figures also show a trade surplus of US$ 0.79 billion, which further adds to our encouragement as last time when the trade surplus was in positive territory was in January 2002 more than 18 years back. However, we have to analyse imports as such a steep decline in imports may hamper the industrial recovery in coming months.

DDP Group has launched Covid Smart, a training and certification programme to ensure that the cargo industry is ready to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and effectively deal with its impact on the sector. Covid Smart is DDP Group’s latest initiative; a programme designed by World Health Organisation certified professionals and ISO-trained individuals to promote safe cargo and help build in cargo agents the confidence to succeed in this industry, once again. The idea behind the programme is to restore confidence and embrace innovation to reassure the global cargo fraternity that the Indian cargo and logistics industry has taken all possible precautions to negate the spread of COVID-19. The online training programme can be used as a weapon to fight the spread ofCOVID-19 and going beyond the standard precautions to reassure logistics of country.

Hans Infomatic launches iCAFFE mobile app to transform freight forwarders business process Hans Infomatic has come up with a new mobile app for its ‘iCAFFE’ users. It is web based freight forwarding software which helps organisations in providing work flexibility options to their employees while making sure they don’t lose grip on productivity during such challenging times.This is a digital transformation of the complete business process which aids working from a safe environment of home or any remote area, adapting to the digital world for an employee and employer. “The app will enable the freight forwarding community to operate smoothly from any remote place, thereby providing business continuity to their clients with many built in features,”says, Parvinder Singh, Managing Director,Hans Infomatic.    The app has features like check & update live status of job by field or remote staff, view & update shipping bill, bill of entry and send, receive or store e-documents, generation of various reports along with few other handy and important features.