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fi lings from companies,
reports Steven Polmans,
the airport’s Head of Cargo
and Logistics, Strategic
Development.
At Hartsfi eld Jackson
Atlanta, Paige is initially
looking to leverage the CCS
platform to manage truck
traffi c to the airport’s cargo
area. It will allow truckers
to make reservations and
get a truck door assigned for
their visit. “There may be
some other components like
e-air waybill, so the trucker
doesn’t have to go inside
and wait for a service agent,”
he adds.
At major European
gateways, the congestion
during the 2017 peak season
prompted a push for truck
management functionality,
like FAIR@Link in Frankfurt.
Initially forwarders shunned
this because of high charges,
but after these were lowered
the system has found broad
acceptance, remarks Stephan
Haltmayer, CEO of Quick
Cargo Service. “We are
hooked up. Today, you can’t
go far without it,” he says.
BRUcloud development
BRUcloud’s truck booking function has resulted in huge
improvements in waiting times, reports Polmans. In addition to
the booking element itself, this app also measures the performance
of handlers and forwarders around the trucking aspect.
A number of apps have been added to the platform. Last
year, trials got under way for the ‘Freight Management’ app,
which uses blockchain technology and smart contracts to
capture the handover of freight between forwarder and handler.
“Handing over cargo includes liability. You want trustworthy
information,” says Polmans. “The blockchain technology works
behind the scenes. Users have no need to change or replace
their systems.”
After the pilot phase, which involved one handler and three
forwarders, the app is now being rolled out to other players. It
currently only covers imports but will be extended to exports,
says Polmans, adding that pictures and fi ngerprints will be
added for handheld phones.
Neel Shah, Senior Vice President Global Airfreight at
Flexport, applauds the development of BRUcloud, saying that
it has garnered Brussels more than its fair share of business,
considering the airport’s network and array of carriers.
He laments that progress in the air cargo industry too often
hinges on individual endeavours. “Unless you get heroic efforts
from people, we are not making headway as an industry,” he
comments.
“We need pioneers. We need external drivers,” agrees Boris
Hueske, Vice President Digital Transformation at Lufthansa Cargo.
Further data digitisation
Pricing platforms like Freightos or cargo.one have a direct interest
in advancing digitisation in the industry, so they could arguably
come into play alongside CCSs to facilitate data fl ows within the
industry.
“Maybe entities like cargo.one will make an impact. If airlines
invest time and resources to make their capacity available to
platforms like that, they can be wonderful catalysts,” refl ects Shah.
“There are not a lot of airlines participating now, but it will come.”
A growing number of airport authorities see a need to play a
leading role to harness and align efforts to improve data fl ow. At
Hong Kong International airport a vehicle tracking system for
motorised airside vehicles and ground service equipment has been
operating since 2015 which gives real-time data on vehicles, their
location and speed.
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) is working with various
stakeholders on a number of digitisation initiatives. “Advanced
technologies including blockchain and IoT will be deployed
to create a trusted and secured network for data sharing and
translation into business value in an optimisation approach,” a
spokesperson for AAHK reports.
Obstacles to progress
While digitisation is on the advance, driven by a greater need
for connectivity and transfer of data and the limitations of older
technologies, Hueske remarks that the trend is not on autopilot.
Paper is
unstructured
data. Unless you
have structured
data, you can’t do
anything with it
Neel Shah, Senior Vice President Global
Airfreight, Flexport
Looking to the passenger
business, where e-tickets have
proliferated to the point that
people cannot imagine doing
without them, he hopes that
digitisation will eventually
reach a point where so many
players are involved that it
seems to be on autopilot.
Shah regards the fragmented
nature of the air cargo supply
chain as a painful obstacle.
Each hand-over should be
managed with an electronic
handshake instead of paper
documents changing hands,
he argues. “As an industry
we’re still in fi rst gear on how
to do these hand-offs. Paper
is unstructured data. Unless
you have structured data, you
can’t do anything with it,” he
says. “The problem with our
industry is it relies heavily on
twentieth century technology.
You don’t have a lot of
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