Ramsauer Raids German Cargo

      Inspectors fom the German Aviation Authority Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) have raided 70 known shippers and regulated agents by sweeping their facilities without prior notice. Germany’s Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer, member of the conservative party Christian Social Union (CSU) ordered the raids.
      The sudden crackdown by the squads, was prompted by the two explosive-laden U.S.-bound shipments boarded in Yemen and is meant to be a wake-up call and warning signal for the entire German air freight community to fully comply with security rules and regulations set by the government.
      Said Ramsauer: “this country did and still does fulfill very high security standards. We nevertheless have to be attentive to maintain and preserve maximum security. That’s why we have decided during the last few weeks to reinforce our controls. With unanticipated inspections we intend to detect weak points and possible leaks within the supply chain in the air freight industry and eliminate them right on the spot. Enterprises that knowingly and severely violate security rules are warned that they will lose their status as known shipper or regulated agent, the moment the deficits are detected.”
      As a result of the latest raid, officials withdrew licenses of three shippers and three forwarders because of serious infringements of security laws. All shipments stemming from these firms will now have to undergo a thorough check at airports prior to being boarded and accepted.
      In addition, the inspectors filed 20 complaints against a number of shippers and forwarding agents because of minor violations like neglected security training courses of their staff, the missing of fences around warehouses or incorrect shipping documents and declarations.
      Ramsauer announced that the raids will continue.
      Meantime the German Parliament Deutscher Bundestag cleared the way for employing 450 additional inspectors for controlling the transport industry more efficiently and more regularly. These inspectors face a Herculean task since there are 670 LBA officially licensed regulated agents in Germany and an estimated number of 65,000 shippers, although it is highly unlikely that the majority of them will apply for a security permit since the procedure is costly and bureaucratic.
      The final deadline for candidates to file applications for obtaining status as known shipper is April 2013.
Heiner Siegmund

At TIACA Up Close & Personal

Start Ups No Quit India

     The resurgence in the aircargo market is seeing a lot of movement. New services are starting and acquisitions are taking place. To top it all, new big ticket start-ups are also happening.
     One such is the move by Bangalore-based Sesh Kulkarni. The former President of UT Worldwide, and a prominent member of the Bangalore Air Cargo Club (BACC), Kulkarni has launched UFM. Primarily a freight forwarding outfit, UFM has major plans to move into the big leagues.
     To begin with, the initiative, barely a few months old, has clearly defined values and beliefs. Talking to Cruising Heights, Kulkarni pointed out that UFM believes in customer satisfaction and that will come from the manifestation of UFM's core delivery strength: “The experience of it all.”
     This belief in adhering to customer experiences beyond just mere verbal assurance would be translated into a visible edge for UFM’s customers. With this in mind, Kulkarni would like to build people skills, processes and systems around client need and requirement.
     When questioned about the timing of the launch of UFM – considering the fact that there are many who have been struggling to keep their heads out of water – Kulkarni exuded confidence that the timing of UFM stepping into the Indian market was perfect.
      “The investors in UFM, our leadership teams in the company and I are completely convinced that this is the right time to have launched UFM. In fact, we think this is the time to be Indian.”
     He pointed out that in 1991-92, India had the first wave of industrialization which lasted for 15 years till the global meltdown slowed it a bit. The first wave put India on the map. Now India is on the verge of a second wave, and this time, the world is setup in India. “We are very excited with the timing,” he said.
     He has his reasons: “We do think that the centre of trade and commerce is shifting to India and China. India will have a big say and Indian companies will have bigger role to play in the years to come.”
     Confident that the next big wave of globalization in various spaces will be driven by India and fellow-Indians, Kulkarni and his team are excited about the possibilities. At this stage, he cautioned that it would be premature to talk too much at this point, “but we do aspire to be present globally and with the right resources, infrastructure and business, that will be very much a possibility. As examples, he said, pharma, automotive and IT companies have already set the tone and shown the way. All UFM needed to do was follow.
     The plans then, for the next couple of years have been chalked out in detail. Kulkarni stressed the word “aggressive”. He also mentioned: “We would like to be a pan-India operation in the next few months. We currently operate in Bangalore and Delhi and our offices in Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai will be functional in 60-90 days.” But UFM’s sights are not only on India. It seeks to be an Indian Global organization. Said Kulkarni, “We do foresee that the logistics space is going to be a major space and the next wave of growth and visibility for this country is going to be in this space. Everybody, starting from people in the remotest part of the world to most throbbing business centres like London, New York and Los Angeles, want to be part of this action: India.”
     With such focus and attention, he said, it was imperative that in the coming years logistics would get its due space and recognition—both with industries and with the government. Looking at the Indian urbanization index, which is pegged at 15 percent growth per annum, “for the next 10 years we see a major role for logistics and logistics companies”, he said.
     Unfazed about the lack of infrastructure that is a common complaint from most aviation and cargo stakeholders, UFM and its management are convinced that “we are at the right place, at the right time with right infrastructure. Our ERP is very dynamic and completely web-enabled and we are hosted on a cloud environment that allows us to keep our costs in check, unlike many who still work on a server-based environment. We have just finalized a very robust training module which allows us to train young graduates passing out of the college in this space and also bring to table the latest knowhow and best practices for our teams.”
     IT was one thing but shipments need to move and for that the country’s infrastructure was still way behind Europe or the US. Kulkarni pooh-poohed the poor infrastructure. He pointed out that “infrastructure in India is only getting better and we are excited about it. It is not important for us to be aligned with what Europe and America are. What is important is the consciousness to improve and get better.” He was convinced that things were moving in the right direction. Having served in various associations like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM - India) and a few others, “I see a very positive inclination to develop our infrastructure on part of many in the political arena. Hence, our infrastructure has to go only one way i.e., North and that is good enough!”
     Kulkarni knows what he is talking about. He has diagnosed what the major struggles for organizations like UFM are that in turn make them into failures:
          · They are not in sync with global development, beliefs and practices;
          · They are not client-centric;
          · Their IT infrastructure is not enabled to leverage the changing landscape keeping in tune to the demand for information and visibility; and,
          · They are asset heavy.
     Simply put, organizations that are not aligned positively to tackle the struggles will fail. As for UFM, it has a lot of confidence in its employees. Kulkarni said that “our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) module is very robust and in many ways it is the first of its kind in the logistics space… We firmly believe that it is important to create wealth not just for promoters, but for the teams too, that work on building the business and company.” In terms of people, UFM is a 40-people organization today and “in just about 60 days we should be close to 100+ soon. With regard to revenues, our plan is to be a Rs 100 crore company by the third year,” said Kulkarni with confidence.
     He went on to point out: “Over the last 20 years in the business, we have learned two things: What to do and what not to do.” Sesh Kulkarni has brought these lessons to the table at UFM and is confident that “we will have a story to tell.”
Tirthankar Ghosh

Lufthansa Cargo Revamps
Top Management

The German cargo carrier’s Supervisory Board has paved the way for personnel changes at Lufthansa Cargo’s top management level in a recent meeting. The Board’s 12 members gave the green light to Karl Ulrich Garnadt (53) to succeed Carsten Spohr (43) as CEO of LH Cargo as of January 1, 2011. Spohr had been previously appointed by Lufthansa to take over the chair of Christoph Franz (50) as head of the Passenger Airline Group when Franz will succeed Wolfgang Mayrhuber as CEO of the airline beginning next January.
Garnadt is a long-time Lufthansa member that started his career as an apprentice in 1979. In early 2007 he became a member of the Executive Board of the Passenger Airline responsible for managing Frankfurt and Munich, his airline’s two major domestic hubs. In addition he has been in charge of network planning and steering since 2007.
Further the controllers have appointed Dr. Karl-Rudolph Rupprecht (54) as a new member of Lufthansa Cargo’s Executive Board. He will follow Karl-Heinz Koepfle as head of operations. Koepfle will retire April 1 next year after completing his 42-year long consecutive term at the German crane.
Rupprecht started at Lufthansa in 1988 after obtaining a doctorate in engineering. Currently he is responsible for all operational matters at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt hub including passenger services, the cost-effectiveness and punctuality of all flights.
With Garnadt and Rupprecht joining Lufthansa Cargo’s Executive Board the gaps that soon will be left by Spohr and Koepfle have been filled early. Not affected by the management changes at the air freight carrier’s top level are Dr. Andreas Otto, responsible for Products and Sales, and Finance and Resources executive Peter Gerber. Both will stay on board.
Heiner Siegmund

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