Category Archives: Technology

CEVA Logistics recently received the inaugural PRISM Award for sustainability from ASM International N.V. as part of ASM’s annual Supplier Day awards program in recognition of CEVA’s energy conservation efforts. One of only two companies to win the global award, CEVA opened a state-of-the-art, in-house operations site in July at ASM International NV’s new global manufacturing headquarters in Singapore. Sustainability was a key theme of ASM’s Supplier Day as the semiconductor manufacturer looks to increase the impact of its sustainability initiatives. The PRISM award distinguishes CEVA Logistics as not only a reliable partner offering responsive logistics solutions but also an advocate for sustainability initiatives, providing its customers with Better Ways to manage their supply chain requirements. Focusing on reductions in energy consumption, CEVA Logistics implemented a new control system to regulate the existing air conditioning systems in the warehouse to be more efficient, delivering 40 percent energy savings with minimal impact to operations and without any modifications to existing HVAC-R equipment at the facility. At the 95,000 square-foot ASM facility in Singapore, nearly 150 CEVA employees deliver critical logistics support, such as inventory and storage management, spare part management, kitting, trash removal, and cleanroom packing, along with other value-added services supporting manufacturing activities, including transportation. Says Elaine Low, managing director of Southeast Asia and Pacific, CEVA Logistics, “We strongly support our customer’s strategy to grow through innovation, while keeping sustainability as a key focus in the semiconductor industry. As part of the CMA CGM Group, CEVA Logistics is strongly committed to the protection of the environment as we deliver responsive logistics for our customers. It’s an honor for us to receive this inaugural recognition from ASM as recognition of our …

Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) has opened its revolutionary new Integrated Hactl Control Centre (iHCC), creating a single command centre that is manned 24/7/365. The iHCC centralises operations control, systems control and maintenance control for the first time, with duty managers able to monitor the entire SuperTerminal 1 facility – from traffic management at its truck parks through the many different functional areas of the terminal, to cargo dispatch activities at the airside area. Before the opening of the iHCC, monitoring and controlling functions were decentralised to the individual Operations, Engineering and Facilities Services, and Information Services departments, which created a time lag in data collection and sharing. The iHCC provides comprehensive real-time data, and workload forecasts for the coming eight hours, enabling instant adjustments to be made to staffing and resources to cope with any unexpected workload peaks. The iHCC also serves as a fully-integrated emergency centre, facilitating the involvement of the crisis management team, and coordinating actions across all departments, to ensure effective decision-making and proactive responses to crises. The Centre’s concept is similar to the emergency centres now found in many airlines and major airports around the world. Says Executive Director – Operations, Paul Cheng: “iHCC provides totally-comprehensive, accurate and instantaneous information on every aspect of Hactl’s giant operation; this is available to those managers with the required access rights, providing them with a holistic view of the operational status of both cargo and flights. “Not only does this enable us to run our everyday operations at a new level of efficiency, it means we can forecast potential problems before they create issues. That places us in a better position to cope with every kind …

Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Aviation Group, has entered into a Proof-of-Concept agreement with SPEEDCARGO, the leading-edge logistics technology solutions provider, to utilise the Singapore-based provider’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) products to boost cargo capacity on flights. The landmark agreement makes Etihad Cargo only the second aviation company worldwide to leverage the CARGO EYE dimensioning system, and among only a few global carriers to trial SPEEDCARGO’s AI-powered CARGO MIND software solution, which delivers optimal cargo space planning and utilisation in seconds in full adherence to regulations and business constraints. “Etihad Cargo’s goal is to assess whether implementing CARGO EYE and CARGO MIND could ensure a complete end-to-end process which totally transforms airfreight operations,” explained Martin Drew, SVP Sales and Cargo at Etihad Aviation Group. “The Proof-of-Concept will confirm whether these advanced SPEEDCARGO products can boost efficiency, productivity and revenue return through digital technology solutions, with the plan to integrate them into our operations in 2022.” CARGO EYE, developed with Microsoft’s cutting-edge Time-of-Flight sensing technology, captures imagery of incoming cargo and calculates accurate dimensions based on cargo type, size, and packaging in real-time, while seamlessly integrating the data into existing warehouse management systems. The solution also feeds data into CARGO MIND to accurately build load plans, monitor, and promote data compliance, and identify damaged cargo to reduce potential claims. “Etihad Cargo is the first airline to propose using SPEEDCARGO’s new CARGO MIND-Airline Product for early-stage flight planning and creation of final booking lists and first-level load plan within the airline ecosystem,” Dr. Suraj Nair, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, SPEEDCARGO. “Thereafter, working with their GHA’s where SPEEDCARGO’s GHA solutions are deployed Etihad Cargo will further maximize …

Freightwalla has launched a free supply chain automation platform, an intelligent shipment tracking service for MSME businesses. An advanced predictive analytics system will help exporters/importers to combat risk associated with shipment delays and improve supply chain efficiency free of cost. The intelligent cargo navigation service backed by the latest ML algorithm will be available to all shippers, including local and global exporters and allied parties. Businesses can avail of the service at zero cost for tracking up to 20 containers per month. According to the Maritime Executive, on average, “Four out of every ten containers (39 per cent) missed their scheduled sailing. At the same time, some significant carriers and ports reported rollover rates of over 50 per cent.” Whereas according to Sea-Intelligence’s Global Liner Performance (GLP) report, “Global shipping line schedule reliability has dropped to 34.9% in January 2021, the lowest in history.”

At the Dubai Air Show, Boeing signed a memorandum of understanding with Ethiopian Airlines that will help the airline to bring cost savings to its maintenance operations with Boeing’s 787 landing gear exchange program. “As the fastest growing airline in Africa, much of our success depends on our ability to seek out new ways to drive operational efficiency in our processes,” said Tewolde GebreMariam, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines. “As the commercial airline market continues to recover, we believe these services offered by Boeing provide a reliable way to realize more stability and predictability in managing our overall maintenance operations and costs across our fleet.” With the landing gear exchange program, Boeing will guarantee availability of 29 landing gear shipsets wherever and whenever they are needed to support the Ethiopian 787 fleet, enabling more efficient and cost-effective maintenance operations. The Boeing 787 landing gear exchange program greatly simplifies the contracting, scheduling and management of the landing gear overhaul process. Through this program, air carriers can quickly exchange landing gears that need to be repaired or overhauled with a replacement set of certified landing gear from a dedicated resource pool maintained by Boeing. By managing all parts, engineering and technical aspects of the program, Ethiopian Airlines will have the flexible exchange solution they need to repair and replace landing gear while lowering inventory costs. Boeing will also provide access to loaner Landing Gear shipsets and parts during unexpected AOG situations.

Locus announced its strategic partnership with NextBillion.ai. This collaboration combines Locus’ expertise in automating complex supply chain decisions with NextBillion.ai’s industry-leading location tech offerings — map data management service, map APIs, SDKs and tools. The companies will accelerate global supply chain solutions and drive sustainable impact through their technological capabilities. “Together with Locus, we’re working to enable use cases for businesses with location at their core. Our goal is to offer hyper-localized solutions that address gaps in the mapping and geospatial data industry. We’re grateful to Locus for their partnership and support,” asserted Ajay Bulusu, co-founder of NextBillion.ai. “Our shared vision of providing full stack solutions and scalable enterprise tech solutions in logistics is a key driver of our partnership with NextBillion.ai. We are confident that with NextBillion’s data layer and Locus’ AI & ML application capabilities we will unlock new supply chain solutions and empower enterprises in this space”, said Nishith Rastogi, Founder and CEO of Locus.

Sanad, the global aerospace engineering and leasing solutions leader wholly-owned by Mubadala Investment Company PJSC (Mubadala), has secured a new US$ 100 million evergreen revolving credit facility with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) the UAE’s largest bank and one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions. The new financing deal, signed during this week’s Dubai Airshow 2021, extends Sanad and FAB’s 10-year relationship which has now seen the two UAE-based companies close over US$ 950 million worth of combined agreements. The various financings are extended in support of Sanad’s global spare engine leasing and component access portfolios. Troy Lambeth, Group Chief Executive Officer of Sanad, said: “Our longstanding banking relationship with FAB, the oldest and largest within Sanad, has played a key role in our growth as a reliable financial solutions provider within the industry. Working closely with each of our banking partners, we have been well positioned to provide attractive long-term financing solutions to our customers since our launch. We are delighted to see our relationship with FAB expand to this new facility as we now look to extend our product and service offerings further across the industrial services sector.”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the commitments towards strengthening climate action made at COP26, and called on the global efforts to decarbonize aviation to be supported with practical, effective government policies. Management of international aviation’s climate commitments sits outside of the COP process and is the responsibility of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Nevertheless, airlines at the 77th IATA AGM in Boston, October, agreed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the stretch Paris agreement target to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees. “Airlines are on the pathway to net-zero carbon emissions, in line with the Paris agreement. We all want the freedom to fly sustainably. Reaching net-zero emissions will be a huge task requiring the collective effort of industry and support from governments. The pledges made at COP26 show that many governments understand the key to rapid progress is to incentivize technological change and fund innovative solutions. This is particularly true of sustainable aviation fuels, which will play a major role in addressing aviation’s environmental impact—they need the right incentives from governments to ramp-up production,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

ECU Worldwide, global multi-modal logistics major launched an intensive industry study on ‘The state of API adoption within the freight forwarding market’. The study helps discern the impact of APIs on freight forwarders and understand the forwarders’ perspective on API adoption. This report is informed on a global survey of over 120 commercial freight forwarding companies. Here are some key takeaways from the report: * Technology limitations and data streamlining are major headwinds to API adoption – The logistics industry has been slow on the uptake with technology, which holds true with data capturing and building inter-stakeholder connectivity. * Lack of awareness is a significant deterrent to data standardization – The discussions on data quality go hand-in-hand with data standardization, as disparate data that do not conform to a particular set of standards will be essentially unusable. * Human-intensive operations likely the earliest workflows to be API integrated – Respondents pursuing data integrations do so by standardizing workflows within their organization in line with other industry stakeholders—both upstream and downstream. * Improved visibility and operational efficiency are low-hanging fruits of API adoption – Visibility and efficiency have been recurring themes within the survey, reflecting the positive correlation forwarders see with API integration. Tim Tudor, CEO ECU Worldwide, said, “Digitization and innovation will play a strong role in building visibility and creating integrated end-to-end solutions for cargo owners. ECU Worldwide wants to encourage the creation of a technology enabled eco-system and supply-chain focused tools to reduce the costs of logistics and make India’s exports more competitive. Stronger technology adoption in the logistics sector will also improve transparency, reliability and predictability in the supply chains across the globe.”

Kuehne+Nagel taking forward the issue of sustainability by becoming the first air logistics provider with an option to purchase Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for each shipment and avoid carbon emissions. This new add-on is available for the customers on all Kuehne+Nagel air freight quoting platforms and channels, allowing customers to choose carbon neutral transport via their preferred online or offline quoting method. With the newly launched offering, all Kuehne+Nagel customers can easily opt for SAF to be used instead of fossil fuel for air transport and benefit from net-zero carbon emissions air freight services – regardless of airlines used, origin or destination. As SAF still produces some CO2 emissions, carbon neutrality is achieved by substituting each litre of jet fuel kerosene used with 1.33 litres of SAF.