accredited freight forwarders
to its eBooking platform (see
Air Logistics International
June 2020 for an update from
Camilo Garcia Cervera).
Cervera, Global VP
Business Development,
WebCargo, views the situation
as a perfect storm.
“We have seen changes
in capacity and fl uctuations
in prices. Altogether these
changes demanded digital
solutions for this industry
to move forward. Reduced
capacity and increased
demand took the prices to
record levels. It has become
important for the forwarders
to understand the pricing in a
very lively manner. We don’t
establish prices. Instead, we
distribute the prices and make
sure they are live. This isn’t
exclusively due to COVID-19,
but the pandemic has
accelerated this move.
“More than ever in history,
airlines and forwarders are
opening their doors for
digitisation. It is no longer
acceptable to have a business
plan in this industry which
doesn’t have a digital strategy
at the heart of what someone
is doing. We are already
very strong in Europe and
are trying to reinforce our
presence here. Asia, led by
India, is witnessing very
signifi cant and quick growth.
The Americas is also another
place we could see growth
coming in,” he concludes.
The technology question
If the cargo sector has been
slow to gear up for a paperfree
solution to its transaction
business, what do the IT
providers say? Amanda
King is the Vice President &
General Manager, Aerospace
Connected Secure Solutions,
at Honeywell.
“Changing logistics processes and tracking systems can be
a signifi cant project for a company. There are many solutions
available, but the challenge is fi nding the right solution. The
reality is paper-free solutions could be implemented without
much downtime and provide signifi cant effi ciencies to cargo
operations, and in the long term show a true return on
investment in both time and money.
“Since COVID-19, the market has been focused on new
processes that reduce or eliminate touching similar surfaces and
promoting social distancing. Establishing paper-free solutions
can do both; eliminate the need for touching common paper
surfaces and promote greater social distancing.
“Through our Productivity Products business, Honeywell
has created several new software solutions designed to help
companies enforce COVID-19 site health and safety procedures.
These features monitor on-site social distancing compliance,
help enforce customisable device cleaning procedures and
deploy software to digitally trace who has handled a mobile
device.
“The features provide employees and managers with realtime
data to better respond to critical factors for businesses
re-opening under modifi ed conditions due to rapidly evolving
health and safety guidelines.”
Seismic shift
What did she feel was required to bring change (ie digitalisation)
to the sector?
“With a seismic shift in consumer demand due to the
More than ever
in history, airlines
and forwarders are
opening their doors
for digitisation
Camilo Garcia Cervera, WebCargo
www.airlogisticsinternational.com August 2020 23
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