Digital Pulse: Industry leaders drive to digitalize operations

The air cargo industry is increasingly turning to digitalization to optimize each step of shipment. This month, air cargo quality standards group Cargo iQ updated its offset management platform, Encore; logistics company ECU Worldwide launched a digital airfreight service to streamline shipping; and Hermes Logistics Technologies is set to upgrade Groundforce Portugal to its cloud-based cargo management system. Cargo iQ updates offset management platform Geneva-based Cargo iQ updated Encore, its offset management platform, to give ground-handling agents viewing access to service timelines for shipments according to their service-level agreements with airline partners. [caption id="attachment_57135591" align="alignright" width="300"] (Photo: CanStock/buchachon)[/caption] “With this latest upgrade to Encore, all parties involved in the movement of a shipment will now have visibility on the planning that goes into creating a route map, which is essential for meeting on-time performance expectations and driving quality in the supply chain,” Chris Davies , technology and product manager at Cargo iQ, said in a release. “This visibility not only means that shipments are more likely to arrive on time, but it also helps to protect the integrity of time-critical shipments and protect stakeholders from incurring unfair penalties when offsets are missed.” This upgrade seeks to eliminate discrepancies in actual versus planned process times. “The main reason for the discrepancy could be that the airline-forwarder slot agreement is based on a ‘per shipment’ basis instead of plane level,” Lothar Moehle , executive director at Cargo iQ, told Air Cargo Next . “Another source of the discrepancy could be a change of plane type or simply different commodities. There were times where the airline might have held the [ground handlers] responsible for service failure, although the root cause might have been the incorrect offset the airline had offered to the forwarder.” Cargo iQ’s ground-handling and airline members are gathering the data that will populate Encore’s upgrade. “The expectation is that all Cargo iQ [ground-handling] members will make use of this new feature in the platform within the next few months,” Moehle said. “This function is also advantageous for airlines who are self-handling in their locations served.” ECU360 now includes airfreight service Mumbai-based ECU Worldwide launched an airfreight service on its digital logistics platform, ECU360, to streamline the airfreight process from quoting to booking, including real-time tracking and live schedules. “We are confident that our new digital airfreight service will be a game-changer for businesses looking to streamline their shipping process and also have an alternate shipping medium as an option,” Jitesh Shetty , global head of ECU360, said in a release. “The digital platform also offers domestic trucking and insurance, which enhances our range of value-added services.” ECU360 works across multiple modes of transport, allowing customers to make all arrangements on one platform. “The recent integration of airfreight functionality into ECU360 has introduced an array of valuable and innovative features designed to enhance customer experience,” Shetty told Air Cargo Next . “This sophisticated augmentation empowers customers to effortlessly obtain online quotes from a variety of carriers, scrutinize and compare schedules, and place bookings with remarkable ease. Furthermore, the platform facilitates the seamless submission of essential documents directly to ECU and enables users to generate air waybills and invoices online.” Hermes to upgrade Groundforce Portugal to the cloud U.K.-based Hermes announced plans to upgrade long-term customer Groundforce Portugal to its latest cloud-based Hermes 5 cargo management system, Hermes SaaS, bringing enhancements to security and increasing the speed, volume and accuracy of cargo processing. Groundforce Portugal’s operations at Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) in Lisbon, Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport (OPO) in Porto and Madeira Airport (FNC) will all migrate to Hermes SaaS, with Faro Airport (FAO) expected to follow soon. “Hermes SaaS is our best software solution to date, representing the optimal way to host a cargo management system, allowing Groundforce Portugal to focus on their core business whilst benefiting from better system performance at a lower cost,” Hermes Chief Executive Yuval Baruch said in a release. Highlights of Hermes SaaS include a new import flight monitor, which provides a comprehensive overview of the status of each import flight, as well as one-button manual notification to captain, which can be prepared before a shipment has been loaded. Migration of the cargo management system from a server to the cloud will bring increased security, according to Hermes. “Our longstanding use of Hermes’ software has proven to be stable, problem-free and a perfect match for our digital and operational needs, so upgrading to Hermes SaaS was a natural next step for us,” Paulo Colla Carvalheiro , planning, processes and innovation director at Groundforce Portugal, said in a release.

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