“Making every trip count”, he averred, was the ideal.
Freight debate
If there is one topic guaranteed to galvanise opinion and produce
an audience reaction, then it has to be that of the electronic air CONFERENCE
REPORT
Freight: accompli!
Sister magazine Ground Handling International incorporated a Cargo Zone within
its annual conference in Amsterdam, in November. Alwyn Brice chaired some of the
proceedings over its two day duration.
The GHI Annual
Conference, whilst
focused on ground
handling issues, played
host to a new concept this
year: a mini conference that
attracted a useful number
of cargo-focused delegates
and a spectrum of speakers.
The entire gamut of cargo
activity was discussed during
the sessions, with everything
from electronic air waybills
and pharma to optimising the
logistics operation and ULD
developments.
Tania Boyes got the cargo
element off to a good start
when she talked on the factors
relevant to Virgin Cargo when
it came to dealing with freight.
With busy trans-Atlantic trade
and a partner in the shape
of Delta, it was imperative
that both passenger traffic
and cargo requirements were
understood; and whilst they
were separate entities, there
was nonetheless a degree of
overlap, she pointed out.
Much value is placed
on customer feedback at
Virgin and Boyes cited some
examples of staff having
gone the extra mile for cargo
clients. This year and the next
have seen Virgin up its game:
both the link with Delta and
dnata’s Cargo City East project
have acted as spurs, driving
both innovation and quality.
KPIs and SLAs
Next, Menzies’ Robert Fordree
looked at the subject of KPIs
and securing the most useful
for a cargo operation. The Australian operation was dissected:
comprising 34 locations, the Menzies operation is a complex one
and as such, has required comprehensive solutions.
Fordree talked of what has been taken on board to facilitate
the operation, which includes technology from Hermes and
solutions from Workbridge, together with telematics adoption
and RSmart software. Sydney, in isolation, as an operation,
was not without its challenges, he stressed. Customer-specific
SLAs were highly desirable, he averred, and they needed to be
measurable. And, despite what might be said to the contrary, it
was important to remember that cargo was still a people business.
For INFORM, Michael Reinkober was able to discourse
on optimisation in the transport process on the ramp. Here,
telematics progress was the key to a better operation. In terms of
the warehouse side of the equation, there were definite challenges
inherent. The whole was too loosely run, and it really required an
optimised, real-time production scheduling solution.
He was able to summarise his presentation in a brief epithet:
50 December 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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