Back to Air Transport IT Review - Issue 1, March 2008

Air cargo set for new generation IT

The air cargo sector is set to see dramatic changes in its use of technology, according to CHAMP Cargosystems CEO John Johnston.

The need to adopt next generation air cargo IT is undoubtedly on the industry’s radar. But few air cargo carriers have taken the step into the promised land of open systems and Java-based programming and all the benefits that these modern technologies can bring.

Part of the problem has been the shear challenge of moving from existing to next generation platforms. This is an essential prerequisite for the adoption of automated services based on programming languages such as Java.

Existing systems are known and reliable. However, these systems are also expensive, and they are becoming too complex for mainframes that may still be programmed in obsolete languages such as Fortran. Java and Oracle-based systems, on the other hand, are flexible and by comparison easy to update.

A clear way forward for cargo

Another problem has been the need for a clearly visible way forward where the costs and timescales involved are manageable. As long ago as 2004, CHAMP took the decision to migrate towards a next generation system module by module. But that process is slow.

With CHAMP’s acquisition of Softair, announced earlier this year, things are set to change, as CHAMP takes on the company’s Java/Oracle based Cargospot suite of products. The acquisition represents a leap forward for the industry and its ability to adopt next generation IT. With Cargospot, CHAMP is able to offer a proven, ready-made next generation system two years ahead of schedule.

Formed in 1985 by a group of Swiss industrialists, Softair has provided market-leading integrated software solutions to cargo carriers and their distribution partners, with over 100 airline customers around the world.

Integration across the supply chain

The acquisition enables CHAMP to accelerate its plans to deliver the world’s first fully integrated enterprise model capable of powering any cargo operation. Supporting the full cargo supply chain, it extends to ground-handling agents, general sales agents and forwarders.

Already work has started to enhance the Java/Oracle-based Cargospot suite of products and to integrate them with CHAMP portfolio of services. Libyan Arab Airlines has become the first CHAMP customer to be implemented on the Cargospot system, with Air Namibia following in an implementation schedule for new customers.

“The acquisition has allowed us to jump two years’ ahead of our original timetable,” says John Johnston.

“We can now help our customers gain the economic benefits of an integrated approach to their cargo business – linking their own systems with third party applications, for example, that allow the systems to talk to each other without problems.

“It’s an exciting prospect and one that reflects our determination to help customers cut needless cost and improve their competitive potential.”

The acquisition came hot on the heels of CHAMP’s announcement that it has teamed up with SAP to create a new, dedicated airfreight hosted enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform and is now a SAP competency centre

“Capital punishment for ULD damage?”

The headline comes from Alex Popovitch, Global Head of Cargo for IATA, at the recent IATA World Cargo Symposium. Good Unit Load Device (ULD) maintenance and management is critical to the industry for both safety and cost reasons.

Safety – because ULDs must effectively contain their cargo
Cost – because ULDs are costing the industry as much as US$ 150 million a year for maintenance, repair and replacement – and much of it is needless waste

There are more than a million ULDs in use, with a collective value of over US$ 1 billion. Despite their size, carriers typically lose as many as six percent of their ULD inventories every year. That’s 60,000 substantial metal boxes littering the world’s airports.

Meanwhile, poor management of the ULD stock leads to lost cargo opportunities and unnecessary costs incurred through the need to reposition empty stock.

Launched at Air Cargo Europe last year, CHAMP’s Web-enabled and Java-based version of ULD Manager is now available for the company’s 28 world-leading cargo carriers customers, which together account for some 10 percent of the worldwide ULD market.

Perhaps the days of the humble ULD as the forgotten asset of the industry will finally become just a memory.

SAP within easy reach

Secure Web-based access to high-end financial management capabilities is an important consideration for air freight carriers and handlers. They are increasingly eager to automate many of the most labour-intensive transaction processing and reporting functions.

The CHAMP-SAP ERP platform offers this level of access. It includes support for CASS (Cargo Accounts and Settlement Systems). This is a critical element of the e-freight initiative launched by IATA as part of its Simplify the Business campaign, and is supported by CHAMP in a number of areas.

Later this year, CHAMP and SAP plan to introduce a new SAP air cargo Template, helping customers with significant added value, as well as certification of a new interface between SAP and leading industry-standard air transport solutions.