Category Archives: Technology

Kale Logistics Solutions has launched a specialised e-booking platform ‘RIGEL’ at Wings India 2018. The platform is one of the company’s trade facilitation initiatives, focused on driving ease in cargo booking for the air cargo industry. This one stop e-booking platform is India’s first comprehensive online platform to assist “cargo rates” discovery and booking procedures for the air cargo industry. Currently, the air cargo industry is heavily dependent on manual and cumbersome processes wherein airline routes and schedules have to be digitally solicited. Absence of a single online source that can provide information pertaining to availability of cargo routes and the corresponding reservation rates to exporters, freight forwarders and custom brokers has made the process tedious and prone to malpractices. With Kale’s online e-Booking platform, routes, rates and schedules for cargo booking are readily accessible through the system, thereby benefitting the concerned stakeholders. It also ensures that compliances for further processing of the shipment are met at the point of booking. This booking data is reusable for further shipment processing by way of connecting to other stakeholders like airports and airlines. The platform is equipped with comprehensive modules for RFQ and quote management, multi-channel booking with EDI communication with airlines, GST invoicing, e-payment gateway, tracking and reporting for all stakeholders.

Expressing how technology benefits business, Kapil Mahajan, CIO, Safexpress, lists features like performance tracking and visibility, increased efficiency, enhanced floor planning, etc for optimal processes. He said, “Oracle’s enterprise-grade cloud platform solutions have helped us fast track innovation, increase operational efficiencies and improve overall IT management. The technology element aside, Oracle’s commitment to customers is demonstrated through regular, hands-on interactions we have with their various teams. These teams ensure we are taking full advantage of Oracle technology to power our business growth, making the entire journey smoother.” Mahajan listed the following business benefits achieved through technology transformation: 1.HOG (Hub On The GO) – Digital Predictive Analytical Dashboard which integrates the IoT platform with core operations. Operational Efficiency of 15-20% w.r.t the reduction in Loading/Unloading times post vehicle arrival within Safexpress Hub Geofence. 2.Workforce productivity in the range of 10-15% w.r.t the average scan count projection, post go live.

Rahat Sachdeva, Vice President, Rahat Continental was awarded the esteemed ‘Face of the Future’ award. Sachdeva has done his Bachelors in Business Administration from Oxford Brookes University. He started his career with SDV (now known as Bollore Logistics) at their Heathrow office managing their Aerospace Imports division and then moved back to India in 2006 to join his family business. Sachdeva has taken his family business to new heights, be it bringing innovation in the business or managing and aligning the branches, etc. In 2011 they started their international office in London followed by another one in New York in 2014.  Rahat Continental, is a 140-crore company with the vision to be world’s best freight forwarding company by 2025.

The third edition of the India Cargo Awards – North & East celebrated the accomplishments of the cargo industry of North & East India at The Lalit, New Delhi on December 20, 2017. Salman Khurshid, former Cabinet Minister for External Affairs, former Cabinet Minister for Law and Justice and Minority Affairs, Government of India, was the Chief Guest for the distinguished evening. The ceremony saw the august presence of the leaders and runners of the cargo industry. The 39 winners were chosen after a fair and unbiased selection process which includes an online voting platform.

Celebi Delhi Cargo terminal went live with Kale’s Galaxy (Domestic module) Cargo Management system as part of the phase wise implementation of the entire suite of Galaxy Air Cargo management software system comprising of EXIM operations, warehouse management, UD, invoice and accounts and domestic operations. The new age domestic module incorporates next generation features like mobile app, customer portal, hand-held based app and EDI with airlines. In order to keep pace with the ever-increasing domestic cargo demands, Celebi Delhi has partnered with Kale Logistics Solutions to automate their air cargo and terminal operations.

Kale Logistics Solutions has announced a new version CANOPUS 2.0 – Customs Clearance Management (CCM) software incorporating several innovative features like business analytics, full feature mobile app and connectivity to multiple stakeholders and Kale’s community platforms. The role of Customs Brokers (CBs) has evolved in the past decade from customs document filing to connecting with multiple trade partners like airline, shipping line, airports, container depots, government authorities and transporters amongst others. The current technology available poses multiple challenges to the CBs like standalone applications, complex documentation, extensive manual intervention and changing compliances amongst others.

At the FFFAI convention, Stanley Lim, Chairman, FIATA Congress Committee & Past President FIATA, expressed the need of logistics cost to be cut down. He said, “No matter in which industry you are, you need logistics and in logistics we are talking about from farm to fork and the number of steps and the cost involved. Moreover, for globalisation one needs to involve all government agencies in one platform to facilitate trade. Hence, logistics cost needs to be cut down to make country’s import and export competitive. Once the number of steps will get cut down, security will be enhanced and there will be less human error.”

The Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India (FFFAI) convention showcased the role and efforts undertaken by the government to elevate the industry. Ashish Pednekar, Chairman Elect, FFFAI & Convenor Kochi Convention, highlighted how the government has been taking initiative optimally. “The government is bringing lot of changes in the Exim trade and FFFAI is the important link. Change is eminent and we have to be with the change to take the industry to the next level. Moreover, with initiatives like ‘Make in India’ logistics has a very important role to play. Most importantly, now government has realised the significance of logistics industry and started taking the fraternity suggestions seriously,” he said.

The FFFAI convention held in Kochi, saw eminent industry persons come and deliberate on crucial elements of the logistics sector. Highlighting the same, Samir J Shah, Chairman, FFFAI, said, “We are working on three important issues. One of the most important issues we are targeting is skill; we understand with technology, domain knowledge of the broker is going to become important. Secondly, our focus is on gender equalisation and thirdly, we are creating a platform where FFFAI member can adopt the changes that are coming in the future. The Indian custom broker is capable of doing everything. Hence, any importer or exporter does not need to go to anybody else; the entire supply chain will be looked after by them.”

The 23rd convention of the Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India (FFFAI) was inaugurated on January 19, 2017, in the august presence of Venkatesh, Eminent Economist, William Demoor, Chief of Cabinet of Chairman, Port of Antwerp, Stanley Lim, Chairman, FIATA Congress Committee and Past President FIATA, V.J. Mathew, Legal Advisor to the Government of Kerala, Senior Advocate of High Court of Kerala, K.V. Thomas, PAC Chairman, MP, Erankulam, along with the logistics fraternity, in Kochi. The convention aims to build a platform for enhancing the logistics sector as a whole while highlighting necessary issues like skill development, supply chain, gender equalisation, among others.