As FIATA meets in Istanbul this week, past interplay between shippers and their immediate partners—the forwarders—earlier last month at the 6th Annual Cargo Handling Conference (ACH) fits in nicely with the conversation stream of the moment.

     Vice President Air Product EMENA at UTi Tjalling Boonstra (left) and Director of Special Programs, Air Cargo Netherlands Ferry van der Ent spoke at ACH under the heading of Areas for Improvement, the forwarder/shipper view.
     In no-nonsense terms, Tjalling Boonstra touched areas that sounded to us like basic training to building the relationship.
Important and obvious factors like visibility/transparency fall under the header of what the shipper needs to know:
     Where is my shipment at which time (preferably on unit–box pallet); real-time information (automation, please); and under which conditions are goods stored (cool chain).
     The point was also made about the need for speed: What is needed to reduce the total transit time to within two days.
     “In many cases, releasing the goods two hours earlier could result in total reduction of one day for the delivery,” Mr. Boonstra said.
     “This is a key KPI for GHA and/or forwarders.”
     Cold chain GDP was touched upon: There is an increased need from pharmaceutical industry for control throughout the supply chain. “Cool chain products need to be handled separately (admin and physical) from other flows,” Mr Boonstra declares.
     “There is a need for trained people to work in a GDP compliant way.
     “The industry needs to be ready to be audited, but feedback should be taken positively.”
     Reduction of costs through integration of processes:
     “There is an opportunity for ground handling agents to provide services to smaller forwarders.
     “Instead of multiple parties pick up, delivering to GHA why not coordinate milk runs?”
     There is too much focus on reducing costs: (a little self-criticism of the shippers).
     Forwarder and, consequently, the carrier selection of the GHA is becoming more and more dominated by procurement departments with the number one intention of reducing direct purchasing costs.
     “One way of getting out of the selection based purely on cost can be to offer different prices for different services, for instance, express service vs. regular handling,” Mr. Boonstra said.

Ferry From Amsterdam

      Mr. Ferry delivered the Amsterdam view at ACH by looking at some of the projects targeting freight forwarders and shippers.
     These include:
          •  a pharmaceutical center that can meet increasing demands of shippers
           •  additive manufacturing (3D printing) and identifying the impact on the future supply chain.
           •  fast lanes - optimized supply chain by minimizing checks and party dependencies.
           •  a consolidation center with a new definition for first and second line use that will decrease queues and waiting times.
           •  specialized engine handling and e-freight, meeting IATAs 22 percent e-AWB ambition in 2014.
     There are also plans to implement e-link, which will enable a faster shipment delivery process (no more paper handling and fewer personnel at the handler desk) and will shorten dwell time for the trucker with an average of 15-minutes faster handling times.
     The direct savings will result in millions of Euros.
     Shippers and consignees will also be involved in the information exchange through the digitization of first and last mile, including digital invoices, packing lists, certificates of origin, shippers letters of instruction, and dangerous goods certification.
     The solution recognizes that 75 percent of the data comes from the shipper and the plan is that the database can accept and EDI message from any system to the community portal, which can then format the data into XML based messaging.
     Ferry noted that success depends on “supply chain performance; space and IT infrastructure are key with safety and security also being key drivers.”
     Patrick Murray Head of the leading Dubai-based IT resource Calogi, offers his take on all of this:
     “Certainly more needs to be done to engage shippers.
     “More often than not, as direct customers, shippers drive forwarders’ behavior.
     “We at Calogi have long recognized that the data elements provided by the shipper make up a significant part of the shipment data, hence the development 6 years ago of an online shippers letter of instruction, which creates the forwarder shipment record.
     “A connected community where data is entered once and re-used has significant benefits; the challenge is how do we get there.
     “I have heard anecdotal evidence that suggests that shippers currently do not share data with forwarders, and even though forwarders offer portal services to allow shippers to capture the data, this approach has not been popular, presumably because the shipper has to create the data in both his own system and that of the forwarder.
     “Perhaps FIATA could take the lead at this shipper/forwarder data sharing aspect?”
Geoffrey

(Seoul Exclusive)—A lot has been written in recent weeks about the ACF 2014 exhibition and conference in Seoul with most of it being focused on the poor exhibitor attendance that will undoubtedly leave TIACA in a huge financial lurch.
     I can confirm that this is certainly how it played out with the size of the hall much smaller than previous years with far fewer exhibitors present.
     That being said, I don’t think we can simply judge the success of this conference based on how many companies paid for the square footage in the exhibition hall because TIACA is much bigger than a trade show.
     It is an organization that is trying very hard to represent all aspects of the industry to find solutions to the many challenges that we face.
     Unfortunately, TIACA in my view just doesn’t have the resources to keep the momentum going over the long term since the majority of time is spent selling exhibition space for the next ACF!
     I strongly believe that TIACA needs to undertake a new membership structure where companies pay much higher annual dues based on their turnover and completely eliminates the reliance on a massive trade show to finance the organization’s agenda every two years.
     The organization would be better served turning their gatherings (both the ACF and AGM) into true networking conferences where leaders from all corners of our industry gather and discuss the meaty issues, including the drivers to make air cargo work better with our counterparts on the regulatory side of the equation.
     Under that scenario TIACA conferees could expect an action plan to move the ball a few yards down the field rather than regurgitating the same topics every gathering, year after year. In between these meetings, the attendees can play a round of golf and do some commercial business.
     This is very similar to how CNS operates and I would argue that it is the most successful industry gathering in the world today.
     We might even be so bold as to begin to link the agendas of IATA WCS, CNS and TIACA so we can meet as an industry every four months and really tackle the major issues until we get solutions.
     TIACA has a very important role to play in this industry but if it doesn’t evolve its rigid philosophy around its AGM and ACF to be in sync with the current market realities it will always be treading water to keep from drowning rather than thriving.
     I have confidence that Doug and Oliver will be able overcome this latest stumble and change the model to ensure long- term viability for an organization with a long proud history of serving air cargo.

Every day since December 7, 1941, “Taps” is played at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Pearl Harbor. As LAX Flight Path readies its annual salute, veterans from all over the USA will gather at the World War II Valor In The Pacific National Monument in December to remember the 74th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack.

   The Flight Path Museum will present its annual salute to American military veterans on Tuesday, November 4, at 10 a.m. in the LAX Imperial Terminal.
   But Flight Path is always doing neat things.
   This past October 1, FP held a grand retrospective of the airline business of the 1960s—including the day the Beatles flew into New York—with a dinner dance and airline fashion show with music by a Beatles cover band.
   Not your ordinary aviation museum . . .
   "Saving the Legacy of Pearl Harbor," is a program that will recall December 7, 1941, and the Japanese sneak attack on the Hawaiian Islands, presented by Gary Steinhauer, regional director of the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Admission and parking are free.
   Veterans present at the Flight Path program, including members of local American Legion posts, will be given a special introduction, according to Nancy Niles, Flight Path President.
   "Each year Flight Path is privileged to welcome our veterans for this annual tribute to military service," Niles told FT.
   "We also invite the public to come join us for this inspiring event."
   Flight Path is a great on-airport LAX resource operated by nonprofit Flight Path in cooperation with Los Angeles World Airports.
   Visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
   Admission and parking are free.
Geoffrey

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