Category Archives: Technology

CargoAi, airfreight’s fastest-growing digital enabler, is proud to announce the launch of CargoWALLET, a modern payment solution for air cargo with supply chain financing capabilities, allowing freight forwarders to make payments for their air cargo shipments directly within the CargoMART booking flow. CargoWALLET’s key USPs for freight forwarders are summed up as follows: 1. Streamlined Booking & Payment: Search and book shipments instantly – no IATA Cass Number, AWB stock, or bank guarantees required. 2. Flexible Finance: Manage cash flow effectively with extended payment terms (PayLater). 3. Global Reach: Book air cargo from anywhere in the world, with local payment in more than 30+ currencies. Started as a project 2 years ago and accelerated with the CargoTech partnership, this groundbreaking payment solution is revolutionizing the way the air cargo is booked and is now finally released to all freight forwarders, following months of successful testing. CargoWALLET enables shipments to be booked and paid for without an IATA Cass Number, without an AWB stock, AND without any bank guarantee, specifically tailored to empower small to medium-sized freight forwarders. CargoWALLET also addresses the needs of medium to large freight forwarders who have an IATA Cass number, but may not have AWB stock with all the carriers due to expensive bank guarantees, or certain airlines still requiring such forwarders to produce bank guarantees. All of these scenarios require additional steps for freight forwarders to fulfil their daily business demands, adding up to more costs and time required. “We are excited about the exponential capabilities CargoWALLET brings to the industry. Not only does air cargo booking become more seamless, but the entire procurement from search, quote, booking, and now payment can be done within …

Locus launches ‘Last-Mile Maturity Assessment’ – an industry-first benchmarking tool designed to help enterprises evaluate strengths, uncover hidden inefficiencies, and identify new growth opportunities in their last mile. To help businesses evaluate the maturity of their last-mile operations, the free interactive online assessment conducts an in-depth analysis through well-researched questions spanning five fundamental performance indicators: • Last-Mile Excellence: How robust last-mile capabilities are in the face of exceptions, unpredictable volumes, and profitability • Customer Experience: The quality and consistency of the customer experience an organization’s last-mile offers • Workforce Empowerment: Employees’ abilities to handle last-mile challenges • Advanced Analytics: The opportunity to leverage last-mile data and make more informed decisions on the supply chain • Sustainability: How environmentally sustainable a company’s last-mile function is today The assessment then scales enterprises on a 5-point rating system and categorizes them as businesses in the Emerging, Growth, or Optimized stage. Assessment takers walk away with a 360-degree comprehensive report that delivers personalized recommendations and actionable insights on how to unlock new revenue, & make delivery experiences a differentiator for enterprises. “Last-mile is the face of the modern customer experience, and while many companies are starting to prioritize this function more than ever before, not all know exactly where to start to successfully and strategically improve their operations in impactful ways,” said Nishith Rastogi, Founder and CEO of Locus. “What Locus’ Last-Mile Maturity Assessment brings is the power of knowledge – not at the execution level where many of our customers are currently focused, but in the planning and back-end stages that shape critical roadmaps. We’re arming enterprises with actionable insights on not just where they can level up these processes but how they …

Sharing his predictions for New Year, Nitish Rai, CEO and Co-Founder, FreightFox says, “2022 has been a year of reckoning for global logistics and supply chains. The year created the sensitivity and need for strong supply chain visibility and resilience across manufacturing logistics. This year has also been instrumental in laying the foundation of rapid digitalisation and data-led transformation to create future-ready logistics. Also, 2022 saw strong tailwinds with organisations globally talking about ESG / Sustainability also as a core theme and taking aggressive objectives towards building net zero value chains. We believe this year was foundational in many ways and learnings post-Covid and carved a well thought future path for transformation and resilience in 2023.”

Online cargo booking portal CargoAi and Logistics management platform Magaya have entered into partnership to connect and use APIs, allowing Magaya customers to retrieve and compare airfreight schedules, availability, pricing, information on aircraft types and a CO2 calculator. “We are excited to now offer the ability for our Rate Management customers to discover the best air shipment schedules and rates in a matter of seconds with our CargoAi partnership,” said Mark Buman, chief revenue officer at Magaya. Matt Petot, founder and chief executive of CargoAi, added, “Our integration with Magaya Rate Management will allow freight forwarders to benefit from operational efficiencies while our airline partners gain access a greater network of buyers.” CargoAi recently agreed a strategic partnership Chain.io, a cloud-based integration platform linking players across the global supply chain.

Mahindra Logistics Limited (MLL) announced the strategic collaborations with 10 innovative technology startups during the CATAPULT Premier Day at Bengaluru. The CATAPULT incubator program is one of the most ambitious technology-based initiative of Mahindra Logistics. Six cohorts of CATAPULT 2.0 have been collaborating with MLL over the past nine months and technology MVPs (pilots) were successfully piloted during this period. MVPs were focused towards developing sustainable solutions and enhancing operational efficiencies in the logistics and mobility space. CATAPULT Cohort 2.0 covered wide technology domains such as Vision tech, Advanced analytics, AI-based optimizer, location-based monitoring tech and sustainable LMD solutions. Six startups part of Cohort 2.0 were Accio Robotics, Linkeddots, Constems—AI, SenseGiz, Jidoka Technologies and Aurita Bikes. During the award ceremony, Strategic Collaboration MoUs were signed with eight startups–HiPer, Enmovil, KoiReader, Accio Robotics, Aurita Bikes, Constem–AI, Linkeddots, and Sensegiz. The technology startups will be integrated as part of MLL’s ‘Smart Automation Program’.

WIZ Tracks flagged off its fleet of trucks for temperature-controlled shipments at the recently concluded Cold Chain Unbroken 2022 event in Hyderabad. Guhan murty, Director, Land transportation Solution Wiz Truck said, “We operate a fleet of over 1600 trucks. We currently operate around 25 reefer trucks and we have plans to scale it up to 50 trucks by December. We see a lot of growth opportunities in this segment because it’s highly fragmented and there are very few big players who are supplying cold chain products pan-India. We have plans to cover all the pin coded in India.”

Kale Info Solutions (Kale), the US subsidiary of Kale Logistics Solutions, has entered a partnership with Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD), USA, to implement its Airport Cargo Community System (ACS), the pair announced at the 13th annual Air Cargo Handling & Logistics conference. Kale’s ACS implementation will reduce manual documentation and data entry time for cargo handlers at RFD, increasing process efficiency at the airport as well as reducing truck congestion and streamlining cargo flows. RFD has seen annual air cargo throughput triple over the last five years, with a 25% increase in volumes recorded in 2021, and the airport has increasingly become an important Midwest hub for e-commerce and international trade. “As the fastest growing cargo airport on the planet, we’ve partnered with Kale to provide the RFD cargo community with the most efficient, transparent cargo IT platform in the marketplace,” said Mike Dunn, Executive Director, RFD. “Kale will allow us to further streamline the digitisation and movement of cargo at RFD today and to keep up with the demands of our growing cargo operations in the future.”

Shiprocket has recently announced acquisition of Arvind’s omnichannel technology business, Omuni. The transaction will be carried out as a combination of stock and cash for total consideration of Rs 200 crores. Combination of both entities will facilitate quick, efficient deliveries of shipments from the nearest store or warehouse thus reducing delivery timelines and enhancing customer experience. Focusing on leveraging cutting-edge technology to build data-driven solutions and integrated product offerings, the Shiprocket and Omuni deal is expected to ensure better inventory utilization, faster-localized fulfillment, optimize operational costs, and deliver delightful multichannel experiences. With seamless inventory synchronisation between online and offline channels, order volumes and order fulfilment rates will increase for retailers.

Kale Logistics Solutions (Kale) has signed a contract to extend its partnership with longstanding customer CHI Aviation Handling (CHI) by a further five years. With Kale as CHI’s strategic tech partner, the Frankfurt-based air cargo services provider has boosted the efficiency and productivity of its ground handling operations using Kale’s cargo management system, GALAXY, to digitalize cargo handling. “We have chosen to continue partnering with Kale to help support our vision digital transformation; we need a reliable IT system that can be easily implemented at every airport station where we are operating and Kale’s GALAXY is the best fit solution,” said Dominik Misskampf, MD, CHI Aviation Handling. “We share a common desire with Kale to create digital channels that make a difference in serving all our customers, both businesses and consumers, by increasing accessibility to our service and improving our response times,” he added.

To broaden its reach and visibility, online booking portal CargoAi has joined digital air cargo project CargoTech. With CargoTech, CargoAi will combine forces with ECS Group’s Cargo Digital Factory and Wiremind Cargo. Cedric Millet, president, CargoTech said in a release, “What CargoTech was missing in its portfolio until now was an online distribution platform. CargoAi not only fills that gap as the world’s only cloud-native based, neutral, SaaS marketplace, but also brings the benefit of an expanded customer base.” The partners said that Cargo Digital Factory and Wiremind Cargo serve their customers’ internal processes, whereas CargoAi digitises the interface processes between freight forwarders and airlines or GSAs. “Given our cross-sectional reach, we see it as our responsibility to advocate sustainability within the industry, both by developing products that promote a greener future and by positioning ourselves as the sustainability experts within CargoTech,” Matthieu Petot, Chief Executive, CargoAi said.