Top 5 cargo communities improve supply chain speed, accuracy

Less than five years ago, the idea of a “cargo community” at an airport was little more than an attempt by the various cargo executives to know everyone’s names up and down the supply chain. What each member of the supply chain did, however, was largely a mystery.

Today, all that has changed as more formalized communities are forming across the globe. Much of this cooperation was prompted by the need to increase quality control procedures for high-value cargo, such as pharmaceuticals. As more forwarders, carriers and ground handlers became certified in Good Distribution Practices (GDP) and IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV-Pharma), the various supply chain stakeholders began to formalize relationships with each other and schedule regular meetings to discuss improving efficiency.

The following five examples of airport cooperation helped pave the way to today’s cargo community trend, which has spread from Asia to Europe and is gaining momentum in North America.

Changi Airport, Singapore

As far back as 2013, Singapore’s Changi Airport has been a pioneer in the development of the cargo community movement. That year, Swiss WorldCargo, the airfreight unit of Swiss International Air Lines, along with ground-handling partners, Cargologic and Singapore Air Terminal Services (SATS), signed a memorandum of understanding to further improve cargo handling and information services.

Under the agreement, the three companies will collaborated on improving quality, e-initiatives, temperature-controlled transport management and specialized handling solutions. Additionally, the partners agreed to enhance GDP standards at both Cargologic's certified cool chain facilities and SATS network stations across Asia. In a pilot project administered by IATA in 2013 and 2014, Singapore was the first application of the CEIV certification process in the real world and has led to several other programs worldwide.

‘BRUcargo’ at Brussels Airport

Following the pioneering CEIV efforts in Singapore, Brussels Airport took up the cargo community banner in 2015. The “BRUcargo” platform became a model for the trend as the CEIV cool-chain certifications began taking off.

Earlier this year, BRU strengthened its cargo operations with a new cargo community organization, called “Air Cargo Belgium.” The new entity, launched April 18, groups all companies under the BRUcargo platform, along with any related stakeholders or official organizations, to create a more cohesive unit. In its mission statement, Air Cargo Belgium said its main ambition is to represent the entire air cargo community and make BRUcargo the most attractive, efficient, innovative and successful logistical platform.

“Although we facilitate where possible and try to take the lead in several topics, it is the cargo community and the different companies at BRUcargo that make the difference,” said Steven Polmans, head of cargo at Brussels Airport. “Without them, nothing happens.” Polmans said.

Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam

For many years, and with less fanfare than Changi or Brussels, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has established itself as one of Europe’s premier cargo communities. June 2017 inbound volumes up 25 percent, compared with June 2016, and outbound figures up an impressive 41.8 percent over the same period. Also this year, Schiphol’s pharmaceutical traffic was up for the first half, due, in part, to its Pharma Gateway Amsterdam program.

In May, AMS also launched its “Compliance Checker” program, which Schiphol officials say will help eliminate common data errors found in the community’s supply chain and facilitate smoother e-commerce flows. Between January and June this year, AMS handled a record-high 866,000 tonnes, an 8.7 percent rise, year-over-year, which the airport cited as evidence that the Compliance Checker is already paying dividends.

[caption id="attachment_20606" align="aligncenter" width="698"] Caption: Board of Air Cargo Community Frankfurt e.V. From left to right: Patrik Tschirch (LUG aircargo handling GmbH), Andreas Heil (Kewill GmbH), Anke Giesen (Fraport AG), Joachim von Winning (Air Cargo Community), Goetz Wendenburg (Kuehne + Nagel (AG & Co.) KG), Soeren Stark (Lufthansa Cargo AG), Michael Hoppe (BARIG e.V.)[/caption]

Air Cargo Community at CargoCity, Frankfurt Airport

This thriving community in Germany includes freight forwarders, airlines, cargo handlers and other service providers from all sectors of the cargo process chain at Frankfurt Airport. The airport’s cargo community system, which has about 50 members, helps “to improve cooperation between all companies along the supply chain within CargoCity,” said Patrik Tschirch, executive at Air Cargo Community Frankfurt. The association has three competence groups "Temperature-controlled Transport", "Processes & Infrastructure" and "Location Marketing & Community Building", as well as various specialist groups which represent the entire range of services offered at the airfreight location of Frankfurt.

The community is now unifying the registration process for truck drivers at FRA, which will help reduce the coordination effort between haulers, forwarders and handling agents. Kai-Oliver Schocke, a professor at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, citing scientific research conducted at FRA’s CargoCity since 2013, said that he expects FRA to save “ten minutes per truck by digitizing the check-in. With more than 1,000 trucks that arrive on a daily basis at the airport, this means significant time saving and reduction of costs."

Miami International Airport

Following the example of Brussels Airport’s BRUcargo, Miami International Airport (MIA) brought the cargo community model to the United States in late 2015, becoming the only airport in the country to hosting an entire cargo community that has been certified under IATA’s CEIV-Pharma program. “The CEIV-Pharma certification program ensures the participants in the air cargo value chain have the tools to operate at the highest standards for the transport of what in many cases are lifesaving drugs and medicines,” said Peter Cerda, regional vice president for the Americas at IATA.

The Miami Dade Aviation Department has sponsored six of the major cold-chain players at MIA to undergo the extensive training program required to gain CEIV certification. As was the case at Brussels, these include not just airlines, but also forwarders and road transport providers. The six companies that have committed to training for CEIV certification in Miami are Amerijet International, Brink’s Global Services, Centurion Cargo, Consolidated Aviation Services, LAN Cargo and Liaison Can/US.

The total value of pharma products transported through MIA has increased by 79 percent since 2010, and in 2014 MIA handled pharma shipments worth US$3.28 billion. Back to Top

Top 5 cargo communities improve supply chain speed, accuracy

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