Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (Hactl) has been awarded the Smart Airport Technovation Awards 2018 – Operational Excellence accolade at this year’s Smart Airport – Technovation Conference and Exhibition 2018 organised by Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).
The award was given to Hactl in recognition of its ‘Smart Cargo Locating’ project, which has recently gone live in the company’s SuperTerminal 1 facility.
The system provides a fully-automated tracking and retrieval system for loose cargo. A reusable identifying tag is applied to the loose cargo on arrival; it is then automatically photographed, check-weighed, and the data and image are uploaded to Hactl’s COSAC-Plus cargo management system.
A specially-adapted ‘Smart Forklift’ identifies the cargo, and carries it to the storage area. The forklift obtains its geo-locations and route to the storage location, from Hactl’s self-developed in-door GPS system. The precise location where the cargo has been racked is automatically uploaded to the cargo’s record in COSAC-Plus for operational use, and for analytical purposes.
When the cargo is needed for pallet build-up before a flight, the forklift driver is directed to the cargo’s racking location, and is provided with a photographic image to further assist identification of the cargo.
The award was presented to Hactl by Airport Authority Hong Kong chief executive officer, Fred Lam, during the two-day Smart Airport – Technovation Conference and Exhibition, held at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Hactl’s senior manager for performance enhancement, Eric Poon said: “We are very grateful to HKIA for recognising our achievement with the new Smart Cargo Locating system.
“Smart Cargo Locating eliminates manual data input, eradicating potential keying errors. It then makes retrieval simpler and faster, helping us to streamline our processes, improve efficiency and further enhance our customer service.”
