Effectively delivering improvements requires investment in better technology and improved training of operators for each individual stakeholder, as well as better communication to eliminate frictional losses at the interfaces, says Lothar Moehle, executive director, Cargo iQ
How can you and other stakeholders in the air freight supply chain work more effectively in 2023 (and beyond) to streamline cargo operational processes and improve cooperation across the air logistics chain?
As Cargo iQ, we believe that applying the principles of the Master Operating plan (MOP) is the first step for any stakeholder to streamline their operation. The MOP outlines the optimal journey of an airfreight shipment from house-to-house, and following these MOP milestones by implementing the prescribed operational processes as standard in your operation is key to standardising the shipment process.
Cargo iQ’ Quality Management System is collecting members’ data all the time to identify areas for further process and messaging improvements.
Due to the Cargo iQ principle of encouraging co-operation within our community and our ongoing initiatives to eliminate unnecessary process steps, we strongly believe that we have done the groundwork and are enabling our members to benefit from substantial cost reductions by working more effectively and achieving quality improvements.
What have you been doing in 2022 to improve air freight efficiency, processes, operations and communications, and what will you do in 2023?
We honestly can state that our members have been able to improve efficiency simply by applying Cargo iQ standards during the course of 2022. Improving the efficiency of operational processes is an ongoing development and achievement of ours. This is, of course, only possible because our members – representing stakeholders from across the breadth of the transportation chain – talk to each other regularly and, together, identify areas where improvements can be made.
In 2022, our members brought tangible enhancements to the quality of air cargo movements, and they have the data to document and share these improvements.
Cargo iQ has – together with its members – started to work on specifications to improve planning and measurement possibilities in Road Feeder Service operations. We began a pilot to test our specifications in July last year and as the next step we are going to work on the messaging and data/information exchange between the airline and IT providers with the truck driver.
Apart from our RFS project, we continue to work on Smart Data to improve data analytics for our members, and on the enhancement of Door-to-Door planning and measurement to include a ‘broken chain’ metric – for example, when more than one forwarder is handling a shipment from origin to destination. Our Care Protocol initiative is also high on our agenda this year.
Can you share any other observations about your expectations for air freight in 2023?
In general, we strongly believe that the request for quick, precise, and accurate information exchange will continue as the shipper/ customer must have better planning data, greater visibility, and higher quality for the service they buy from the air freight industry.
To deliver these improvements, it will require investment in better technology and improved training of operators for each individual stakeholder, as well as better communication to eliminate frictional losses at the interfaces.
Cargo iQ is here to support and work with the community to achieve these quality, efficiency, and communication enhancements.
