Category Archives: Technology

Commenting on should we be investing more on technology to sustain in business, Amit Malakar, Chief Customer Officer, Welspun One, says, “Technology is going to be a very important part of our lives. Everyone needs to be digitally savvy and make sure that their supply chain is resilient enough to reach the market through their warehouses. We have seen FMCG companies who were never on the e-commerce platform are now looking at digital distribution strategy in a big way.”

STARLUX Airlines has deployed IBS Software’s iCargo platform to manage business and operational functions for its entire cargo business. The iCargo management platform was implemented ahead of STARLUX Airlines’ launch in January 2020, which saw maiden flights to Macau, Penang and Da Nang with three A321neo aircraft. After a rigorous evaluation process, STARLUX Airlines chose IBS Software’s iCargo SaaS-based cargo platform to provide a single, unified platform for all critical functions. iCargo now manages all aspects of STARLUX’s cargo business, including sales, airline operations, US customs, mail, Unit Load Device, cashiering, claims, cargo and mail revenue accounting, portal services, data warehousing and business intelligence modules. “We chose the industry-leading iCargo management platform to achieve our goal of providing the best and seamless cargo service to our customers,” said Glenn Chai, CEO, STARLUX Airlines. “So far, iCargo has proved itself to be well worth the investment. It is an advanced digital solution featuring advanced and user-friendly functions. STARLUX is very glad to have made the right choice.” STARLUX plans to expand its network with additional A321neo aircraft scheduled for delivery, plus wide-body A350 XWB aircraft. iCargo is fully enabled to support this future growth and continue to empower STARLUX to deliver on its brand promise to customers.

In order to deliver an integrated solution to eliminate friction in complex global supply chains, FourKites have partnered with o9 Solutions. The idea is to augment o9’s Control Tower solution with FourKites’ real-time in-transit freight tracking. The partnership enables customers to receive, in o9, proactive notifications of freight disruptions coming from FourKites, so that they can implement agile planning and scenario management to mitigate any impact of those disruptions on their end-to-end supply chain. “o9 Solutions and FourKites are two best-of-breed solutions that are bringing a completely new value proposition to our joint customers. By bringing real-time freight tracking right into our Control Tower, our users will have access to maximum visibility, predictability and reactivity to any freight disruptions,” said Chakri Gottemukkala, CEO, o9 Solutions. “Real-time visibility and predictive ETAs are critical to end-to-end supply chain planning and orchestration,” said Mathew Elenjickal, founder and CEO, FourKites, in adding, “Our customers are seeing 10-15 per cent savings within their transportation, warehouse and customer service operations by leveraging the prescriptive recommendations from our platform. Our shipper network and data set, combined with o9’s end-to-end integrated planning capabilities, will enable our mutual customers to create exponential savings across their supply chains.”

COVID-19 has changed e-commerce for the better and warehousing plays a very important role. Sharing his expectations from warehouse developers, Naveen Rawat, Director & Co-founder, Holisol Logistics, says, “On the e-commerce side, we are getting the requirement of being able to be as close to the customer as possible. Land cost is important, therefore, these large hubs have to be located on the outskirts of the city because firstly land would not be available in the city and secondly it would be costly to do that. While the e-commerce company wants to do a 90-minutes delivery promise to the customer, location has to be taken care of with small space within the city that has to be optimally managed. There is going to be a lot of demand of smaller fulfilment centres with some sort of automation to still be productive and efficient and being closer to the city. This is one area where we feel a lot of warehousing space is going to be required from within the city in addition to large big boxes Grade-A quality spaces which would be required on the outskirts of the city.”

With going contactless, a lot of movement will get done on trust or faith. Expressing his views on the same, Satish Lakkaraju, Chief Commercial Officer, Agility Global Integrated Logistics, says, “The logistics industry has been running dominantly for ages on the trust factor itself. A freight forwarder today is working with one laptop and internet connectivity; it is only trust with his customers that at the end of the day the cargo will move from point A to point B. There are hardly any contracts. If any customer walks to any freight forwarder, he would follow the process and the documentation but it is more of a trust than processes. It’s up to the associations, freight forwarders and rest of the industry that integrity should be built in the organisation drastically and if we all work as a team and enhance integrity to the greatest extent then trust will further enhance and we can work jointly to make India a market in future for everyone to come. Globally, there is a conception or fear that India is quite painful in ease of doing business but I would surely say that working in India has become much better.”

In order to create a single digital access point for all stakeholders for information and seamless communications, Siemens India has integrated its systems with the Air Cargo Community System (ACS) framework at Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) called as GMAX. ACS is developed by Kale Logistics Solutions (Kale). It enables the agency to enter and view the data directly, thereby avoiding duplicate data entries and to receive updates on real-time cargo status. Manoj Singh, Sr. VP – Head of Cargo, MIAL said, “Technology plays a very crucial role in ensuring seamless processes at MIAL Air Cargo, and was the primary motivation behind the launch of GMAX in 2013. The ease of integration of the portal with Siemens speaks volumes about the relevance and future scope of GMAX towards air cargo operations. It also enables us to further extend this service to import consignees, regulators and global airports initially to start with CEIV certified partner airports in a phased manner.” Dr. Pramod Sant, VP- Head of Import, Export and Customs of Siemens India said, “Time criticality is an essential factor for Siemens. With ACS integration we made the right move to give our organization and stakeholders the immediate value needed during these uncertain times. We strongly believe Kale’s ACS will help us meet our long-term strategic business initiatives.” Amar More, CEO, Kale Logistics Solutions, said, “Logistics is all about speed, visibility and connecting different stakeholders for efficiency. This is probably another global first for the Mumbai air cargo community wherein the exporter/importer has connected directly with the ACS. We are proud to be part of this initiative and are committed to digitally transform the airport cargo community globally.”

London Heathrow Airport’s air cargo community has successfully completed its first trial of IATA’s ONE Record technologies, which aim to replace the legacy Cargo-Imp and XML standards. The vision for ONE Record is an end-to-end digital logistics and transport supply chain where data is easily and transparently exchanged in a digital ecosystem of air cargo stakeholders, communities and data platforms. Its objective is to address the main challenges of e-freight and unlock the possibilities of a full digital air cargo industry, creating opportunities for new value-added services and business models. Working on behalf of CCS-UK, the operator of the UK’s air cargo community system, US application development and data management specialist Nexshore built a ONE Record server based in the UK, to control the storage and transmission of the ONE Record data objects which form the core of the new concept. The server was built to the latest ONE Record standards, but was also designed to support earlier versions. In addition, security to the latest IATA specifications was built into the CCS-UK platform. “We are delighted at how well this initial pilot has gone, but we need additional participants in order to test the system on a larger scale, under everyday working conditions and with higher traffic levels,” says Malcolm Fowler, CCS-UK User Group. “ONE Record may not seem like the most important priority for the industry right now, but in fact there has never been a better time to adopt it. It delivers greater efficiency and potential cost savings, and low implementation costs. In addition, through the total transparency and uniformity it brings to the supply chain, it provides the kind of seamless data flows and visibility which shippers …

Commenting on what is stopping the industry from keeping pace with the government and who can take the responsibility to create more awareness on going contactless, Cyrus Katgara, President, ACFI, “Associations do need to take the responsibility and we will take the responsibility. It is the time for collaboration between all the associations, be it, ACFI, ACAAI, AMTOI, CHAA, etc. ACFI has already started training programmes on how we can go contactless. It’s all about the mind-set and will power of people to avoid contact and forget our old system of interacting with people for work. We need to have interaction for every other thing except for work. Today, also at the ground level we have examination and other queries where there is contact.

To help the air cargo industry in order to match the shipping needs with the availability of infrastructure capabilities and certifications of service providers across the value chain, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched IATA One Source. ONE Source lists the latest operational information on airlines, airports, cargo handling facilities, freight forwarders, ground handlers, shippers, and trucking companies. All critical information contained on ONE Source has been verified by IATA to help ensure its accuracy. IATA ONE Source is free for all service providers across the air cargo supply chain. The online programme is particularly timely amid the COVID-19 crisis when shippers of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals need accurate information for time- and temperature-sensitive shipments. “Air cargo has been essential in the global fight against COVID-19, transporting vital equipment and medicines to those who need them most. However, with over 3,500 differently sized cargo handling facilities worldwide, the industry until now has lacked visibility on the capacities and services these facilities can offer. The need for greater transparency is even more critical in the current context. ONE Source addresses this by providing a single reference point for up-to-date infrastructure and certification data, helping save time and keep air cargo moving,” said Glyn Hughes, Global Head of Cargo, IATA.

ONE India (Ocean Network Express) became the first Carrier to launch their Electronic Delivery Order (e-DO) via Port Community System (PCS1x) by going live for Nhava Shiva India. While urging all other carriers to step forth and commence eDO release via PCS1x, Dr Janardana Rao, MD, IPA (Indian Ports Association), says, “This initiative will significantly improve efficiency while also taking Indian logistics closer to becoming a paperless regime. With the roll-out of the service, ONE India customers will be further facilitated and gain considerably; saving time and money in clearing cargo and speed up delivery order extension and the empty offload processes. Field agents of importers and customs brokers need not wait at line offices and can be utilised more productively. Indian Ports Association (IPA) launched a value-added Electronic Delivery Order (eDO) facility – on its cloud based new generation Port Community System ‘PCS1x’. Government has ensured that the facility can be availed free of charge by all stakeholders on PCS1x.