AI & AIR
CARGO
the vehicle reacts to a live
environment, such as what
happens when it gets dark and
the vehicle can’t rely on some
of its sensors,” relates Carly
Morris, Head of Innovation at
IAG Cargo. “We gained a lot of
insights and we’re continuing
to work with Oxbotica to
develop the vehicles.”
IAG cargo has been
collaborating with its parent
company IAG (the owner of
British Airways, Iberia, Aer
Lingus and Vueling airlines)
to fi nd innovative start-ups.
The Hangar 51 programme
received more than 400
applications and selected 28
fi nalists. Morris says that one
of the fi nalists, Emu analytics,
was chosen because of its
proposal to develop a real-time
vehicle telematics analysis and
visualisation solution for air
cargo.
“The software provides live
insights into where airport
vehicles are at Heathrow
and how they’re performing.
We can identify where we
can make improvements to
the effi ciency of routes. If a
CargoPod runs repeatedly
into obstacles, or queues, we
change its path to make the
cargo fl ow better,” she says.
Emu Analytics offers
accurate data about the state
of the fl eet of cargo vehicles.
Previously, maintenance
schedules were set at time
intervals, but such a simplistic
system failed to take into
account if a vehicle had done
30,000 miles or 5,000 miles
over a designated period.
“Using the Emu software,
we now know when they’re
being overused, or underused,
and we can take them out of
the live environment earlier if
they’re in danger of breaking
down,” she adds.
Further fi elds
Several other cargo companies
are starting to use AI in
original ways. DHL, for
example, is analysing social
media posts for live insights
about air cargo. The company’s
Resilience360 Supply Watch
uses both machine learning
and Natural Language
Processing to monitor up
to 8m posts from online
and social media sources
in multiple languages. The
technology is able to search
for tell-tale signs of potential
supplier problems in live time.
Subscribers register to receive
instant alerts if something
is amiss. Similarly, Alibaba
recently launched its PAI
2.0 on its cloud service. This
makes use of machine learning
to predict the locations of
Animal and pet transportation is a growing
sector and one that requires certain
protocols to be in place
airfreight shipping around the
world. Meanwhile, Lufthansa
Cargo has introduced an
e-booking style digitisation
service for cargo. Instead
of manual pricing and
quoting, machine learning
algorithms replace personal
negotiation with real-time,
bookable online offers using
Lufthansa Cargo’s application
programming interface.
The power of AI to
automate processes inevitably
means that air cargo workers
will be looking over their
shoulders, worrying that
machines will – metaphorically
– possibly be elbowing them
aside. But Kohli reckons that
this fear is misplaced. “AI
is speeding up processes,
not replacing humanity.
Automation means average
booking times will drastically
drop.
“But we’ll still need
humans for advice and focus
on strategy,” he believes.
We can identify
where we can make
improvements
Carly Morris, Head of Innovation,
IAG Cargo
24 June 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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