Category Archives: Technology

Ground handler dnata will invest over €200m investment in a fully automated cargo centre at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS). The 61,000 sq m dnata Cargo City Amsterdam facility, located at Schiphol South-East, will be capable of processing over 850,000 tonnes of cargo annually. Scheduled to become operational in 2024, the facility will handle all types of cargo, including perishables, pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods, mail, live animals, aircraft engines and vehicles. dnata Cargo City Amsterdam will be developed by Schiphol Commercial Real Estate and equipped by Lödige Industries The cargo centre will be fitted with two separate automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), using technology from Lödige Industries, for import and export with twelve stacker cranes. A total of up to 2,500 pallets will be stored here. In addition, separate storage for ULDs will be serviced by four elevating transport vehicles (ETV). dnata will also make use of seven intelligent automated guided vehicles (AGV) from Lödige Industries to enable flexible and scalable ULD transport within the terminal. Smart gates will automatically record the volume and weight of all incoming consignments by scanning them in 3D, thus significantly speeding up handling and improving the quality of service. All elements will be integrated into a warehouse management system to enable dnata to further grow its operations and service at AMS.

Environmental sustainability and decarbonisation in particular are central to Qatar Airways Cargo’s corporate strategy. In November 2021, it became the first cargo airline to join the IATA CO2NNECT platform and has since been working on developing a fully integrated carbon offsetting solution for its customers. The initial milestone was recently reached with the introduction of a cargo carbon emission calculator. Available under the eServices menu on the airline’s website: https://www.qrcargo.com/calculate-emissions, the calculator quickly determines the shipment’s total CO2 emissions in kilos or pounds, depending on customer preference. The user simply enters the shipment’s origin, destination, flight date, and weight to obtain the different flight options and their respective carbon emissions. “Following our joint Qatar Airways Cargo-IATA project pilot to launch a new voluntary carbon offsetting programme for air cargo shipments, Qatar Airways Cargo is now proud to unveil our Emission Calculator,” Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo of Qatar Airways Cargo, announces. “To improve a situation, it is important to establish the status quo. This calculation tool enables our customers to get a better overview their shipments’ carbon footprint with us. It is the first step in our plan to offer a complete offsetting capability as part of the CO2NNECT programme we have entered into with IATA.”

o9 Solutions, a leading enterprise AI software platform provider for transforming planning and decision-making speed and quality in companies across industry verticals, announced that it has received equity investments totaling $295 million from General Atlantic, including BeyondNetZero, its climate investing venture, Generation Investment Management, a pure-play sustainability investment manager, and existing investor KKR. This significant investment will help o9 build on its momentum and accelerate growth for its AI-powered Integrated Business Planning platform it calls the “Digital Brain” across industry verticals and markets. It will also help o9 drive continued innovation in R&D, industry knowledge models and partner ecosystem development that will help companies implement o9’s game-changing platform faster and realize greater value. Today, leading companies across varied industry verticals that include retail, consumer and industrial products manufacturing, high-tech and semiconductor, life sciences, automotive, telecom, and oil and gas leverage o9’s Digital Brain platform for transforming their supply chain, commercial and integrated business planning capabilities. These companies are using o9’s Digital Brain platform to build a live, digital model of enterprise data and knowledge that helps them detect demand and supply risks and opportunities, forecast demand more accurately, and evaluate what-if scenarios all in real time. By matching demand and supply intelligently and driving greater alignment and collaboration between customers, internal stakeholders and suppliers across the integrated supply chain, clients can realize significant value from their commercial plans and decisions while making measurable positive impact to the environment.

Hikvision, an IoT solution provider with video as its core competency, announced a new technology partnership with Irida Labs, a vision AI solution provider from Europe, to integrate its IP cameras and HikCentral software with Irida Labs’ PerCV.ai Industry 4.0 Package. The integration provides intelligent vision AI solutions for manufacturing and logistics sectors to manage warehouse and plant in real time. Utilizing the Hikvision Intelligent Security API (ISAPI) protocol and Embedded Open Platform Program (HEOP), the integration allows the PerCV.ai algorithm to run inside Hikvision DeepInView camera series for edge processing. Operators can easily monitor manufacturing and logistics processes using PerCV.ai Industry 4.0 Package user interface. The combination of video, AI, and edge computing empowers real-time pallet and parcel monitoring, product inspection, forklift and truck monitoring, personal protective equipment (PPE) detection, and critical equipment interaction monitoring. The real-time AI-powered analytics also enables actionable business and process insights. “We are excited to join the Hikvision Technology Partnership Program (TPP). Now, our AI vision software PerCV.ai supports Hikvision DeepinView cameras and HikCentral software through this program,” says Vassilis Tsagaris, CEO at Irida Labs. “We would like to thank Hikvision for working closely and supporting our team during the last few months, making this integration truly added-value for our customers.” “The combination of the AI-enabling camera platform and the intelligent algorithm of PerCV.ai really makes a strong and flexible package for the users. With solutions like this, staff safety and warehouse processes are taken to a new level,” added Adler Wu, Global Technology Partner Alliance Manager at Hikvision.

Cargolux Airlines has launched a new online booking portal as part of the freighter operator’s investment in its digital capabilities. The new portal enables customers to log on, request an instant spot quote according to personalised criteria, as well as having visibility of allocations, “thereby enabling for the selection and booking of the best option”, the company said. “The online portal offers transaction options for all customer profiles, from international groups to local independent forwarders,” Cargolux said in a release. Mathieu Weber, vice president digital sales & marketing, added: “With this new portal, Cargolux is moving closer to an omni-channel connectivity experience for customers. The portal offers tailored quoting and booking in a few clicks and we are confident that this handy and timely solution will be highly appreciated by our customers.”

Cargoes Customs provides an intelligence-enabled, unified customs operating model that optimises border management and revenue collection activities. The system empowers customs agencies to facilitate trade, secure global supply chains, and increase compliance. At the same time, it minimises revenue leakage for government agencies. The platform is built to assist global customs organisations in reforming and modernising processes by streamlining digital transformation through the latest technology and tools. The Cargoes Customs platform is based on the belief that with technology as a foundation, any customs organization can vastly improve its digital capabilities and better integrate with key agencies and other countries, while also satisfying any regional agreements. The system is further enhanced by its powerful risk engine which detects revenue leakages. This technology improves visibility and traceability, and is based on WCO best practices, thereby optimising the customs clearance process. As an intelligent risk engine, it helps enforce compliance and promotes seamless collaboration between authorities, government departments and stakeholders. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World, said: “Trade is a key driver to help economies around the world to recover fairly and sustainably from the economic shock of the pandemic. At DP World, we are doing our part to make trade flow as smoothly and seamlessly as possible, and with Cargoes Customs we really help customs authorities around the world to become dramatically more efficient – now and for the long term. This new digital solution connects customs officials and traders through an easy-to-use interface and a suite of custom-built tools. We will continue to invest in our digital platforms to bring simplicity, transparency and efficiency to global trade – at customs, and beyond.”

MatchLog, a digital first container logistics optimisation platform, has raised USD 3 million in its pre-series A round through Blue Ashva Capital, a leading Singapore and India-based VC, Rainmatter Climate, and Capital-A, a Bangalore based early-stage investor. The capital raised will be deployed to develop the tech platform further for AI and machine learning based pairing of cargo across India, grow the multi-modal share in addition to road transport and expand its footprint to more ports in India and around the world. MatchLog is the first company in India that offers at scale the ability to turnaround a container from an import to export cycle, thereby eliminating unnecessary empty runs to and from the container yards. MatchLog’s work results in significant fuel savings and directly contribute to the decarbonisation goals of the shipping industry. In 2021 alone, MatchLog saved 1 m + kgs of carbon emission through its efforts. MatchLog has also been able to develop strategic inroads with leading custom house agents, freight forwarders and transporters that ensures higher adaptability and acceptance by the trade at large.

Envirotainer and Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP Cargo), the leading airline in pharmaceutical logistics, announced their collaboration on sustainability. Envirotainer and Air France KLM Martinair Cargo each have a strong focus on sustainability and are pursuing multiple initiatives with a view to achieving more sustainable operations. Being long-term close partners, both organisations sought to strengthen the initiatives by collaboration. Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has approved the newly introduced Envirotainer Releye® container and is in the process of implementing it in its booking system as part of its product portfolio. The Releye provides outstanding environmental performance, delivering up to 90% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to available passive solutions, based on life-cycle analysis. Envirotainer will reduce the impact of the use of its containers on the environment by investing in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). SAF offers a cleaner alternative for conventional jet fuel. SAF is produced from sustainable feedstock, such as cooking oil, animal waste or solid waste from homes and businesses. It reduces CO2 emissions by up to 85%, when compared to conventional jet fuel. The reduction occurs throughout the entire lifecycle of producing and using sustainable aviation fuel compared to that of fossil fuel.

Indian startup EVage has raised $28 million from a US-based venture capital firm RedBlue Capital. The startup which develops electric delivery vans for e-commerce and logistics companies including Amazon is the first startup to create an electric van in India from the ground up. The Indian EV market has been on a shooting stage, Amazon aims to have 10,000 electric vehicles for deliveries by 2025 while Walmart’s Flipkart aims to have 25,000 EVs by 2030. “The electric vehicle market in India will boom with this shift in the movement of goods, and electrifying this segment will be a big opportunity. Compared with the West, India, and markets like Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America have unique demands in terms of the price and capacity of the vehicle, road conditions and weather.” said Olaf Sakkers, General Partner, RedBlue Capital. Sakkers also added that one can see EVage as more of Rivian and Arrival for developing markets.

ECS Group’s Cargo Digital Factory and Wiremind Cargo are coordinating their digital expertise under a new technology-focused and autonomous company:CargoTech. With the launch of CargoTech, ECS Group’s inhouse solution developer, Cargo Digital Factory, and the French software and data-science company, Wiremind Cargo will focus their efforts on intelligently digitalising the air cargo industry. CargoTech also supports one of the four pillars of ECS Group’s new Augmented GSA concept, comprising Commercial, Technology, Sustainability, and New Abilities. Based in Paris, France, Cargo Digital Factory and Wiremind’s newly established dedicated cargo business unit will collaborate to digitalise as many air cargo processes as possible. Existing Cargo Digital Factory products such as its APOLLO BI & Reporting System, PATHFINDER Track & Trace solution, and QUANTUM pricing support system, and Wiremind Cargo’s shipment volume evaluation & flight planning system SKYPALLET, form the basis of CargoTech’s product portfolio. The two divisions will jointly innovate and design additional digital solutions to expand the standard product portfolio, as well as tailor individual products for all actors of the cargo supply chain: airlines, GHAs, GSAs, and freight forwarders. Cedric Millet, ECS Group Chief Strategy & Digital Officer, explains. “Under the CargoTech umbrella, we will enhance and develop digital products both for the benefit of our existing ECS Group customers, as well as for all other airlines in the world. Our solutions are modular, and customers can subscribe to one or several products as required.” “Our intensified collaboration with Cargo Digital Factory will enable us to deliver more quickly on our vision of becoming a leading provider of end-to-end software solutions to the air cargo market,” Nathanaël de Tarade, board member at Wiremind and CEO of Wiremind Cargo, says. “Not …