North America

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  When electronic data interchange (EDI) was introduced half a century ago, it rang in an era of business automation. Two decades later, in the eighties, standards began to converge towards the UN/EDIFACT standard, which set the foundations for global data exchange between businesses. Today, 95% of documents exchanged electronically in air freight use a “dialect” of EDI called Cargo IMP...

28 October, 2021 /

  “Unique Labour dynamics” in the air cargo industry is turning to be a burning issue for entire supply chain. With unemployment benefit schemes being a disincentive for some staff to return to the workforce, the air cargo sector is at crossroads.  According to industry estimates, staff shortage at the peak of COVID-19 lockdown was 30 percent. Since last year the...

04 October, 2021 /

  Freight Forwarders play a crucial role in the entire logistics industry. The role of Freight Forwarders in the modern world is simple but significant. Apart from arranging carriers to move cargo forward, they have a strategic advisory role in terms of documentation, planning, providing local services and execution of cargo movement. Complex, demanding, and the most competitive business scenario in...

22 September, 2021 /

  Since the advent of the pandemic, the demand for air cargo bookings online have been on the rise quite exponentially and so is the need to negotiate on the pricing through online modes. While Shippers and Freight Forwarders negotiate in person for quotations, nowadays, requesting quotation is performed online with technology intervention.   Certain IT solutions exists that allows the stakeholders to...

13 August, 2021 /

  Freight Forwarders and Exporters often see Airport as a blackhole. Yes, once cargo enters the airport precinct, these stakeholders would hardly get any visibility on the shipment. But the stakeholders on the air side too face challenges such as redundant data entries, revenue leakage and regulatory delays. Due to such issues, shipments either go missing or delayed for departure. To...

19 July, 2021 /

  The maritime supply chain is critical to America’s economy and national security, and that point could not be more evident than it is today. Sometimes it takes a major disruption to highlight vulnerabilities. In the recent times, the maritime ecosystem in the USA has seen discord between shipping lines and exporters. Major disruption in the US supply chain has brought...

05 July, 2021 /

  The outcry on sustainability and sustainable practices are soaring these days. At least in Air Cargo has seen a major transformation in terms of adopting sustainable practices. According to IATA, 2.5 million lives are saved each year with vaccine shipments sent worldwide (excluding COVID-19). Each shipment might consume 124 copies of paper. This would eventually cause millions of paper copies...

09 June, 2021 /

  While the entire world is beginning to see a deluge alike last year, a complete lockdown may not be happening as the supply chain is still active. Unfortunately, other challenges are looming. Since the beginning of 2021, there has been a significant increase in imports and exports. Imports alone in North American ports have been skyrocketing in a range of...

28 April, 2021 /

  Truth is always bitter and in case of the Logistics customers – shippers – are continually seeking ways to do cost cutting out of the supply chain in order to improve their operational performance - particularly when it comes to inventory and transportation. As a Logistics provider, this means Freight Forwarders can either enter a battle to offer a lower...

16 April, 2021 /

  International shipping requires a unified, global approach to facilitation in case it wants to thrive in this highly competitive landscape. This need led to the foundation of an international treaty called the FAL Convention, active since 1967 but kept continually amended and updated by Governments at the FAL Committee of IMO – which usually meets every year, at least once,...

22 March, 2021 /

  Truck congestion is a big problem behind the scenes at some major US airports, especially in North America, because of the existing inefficiencies present as a result of poor coordination and infrastructure. North America faces the major challenge of truck congestion since most of the counties here have more than 60% of truck drivers.   Truck congestion at cargo complexes in airports...

12 March, 2021 /

  Import activities in the west coast of North America is surging as it used to be in the pre-pandemic scenario. If the statistics are to be believed, analysts estimate a significant volume surge of 160 percent in imports compared to the year ago period. Staples and consumer durables are among the most sought-after shipments in this lot and most of...

03 March, 2021 /

  The pandemic has taught the importance of digitization to the world undoubtedly. Why? The rate of digitization in the maritime sector has grown significantly since the outbreak. Now, the regulatory bodies such as International Maritime Organization (IMO) and others are pushing for technology adoption to ensure the essential supply lines across the globe will remain active despite the uncertainties. But...

12 February, 2021 /

  Video doorbells, smart thermostats, virtual assistants like Alexa and Google Home are just a few examples of how the Internet of Things (IoT) has impacted consumers’ lives. As logistics companies and businesses leverage this technology, the possibilities seem practically endless, with DHL and Cisco estimating an impact of more than $1.9 trillion in the supply chain and logistics sector.   Let’s look...

22 January, 2021 /

  The day has arrived. You have been dreaming about New Zealand for years, and now it is finally time to experience its beauty. Prior to crossing the Pacific, one has to make an international connection at San Francisco. Approaching the gate at your home airport, luggage in tow, you hit a massive crowd of travellers waiting for your flight and...

17 December, 2020 /

  Even though several functions in the maritime ecosystem remains manual, to some extent the port authorities did attempt to leverage technology. Anyhow, technology adoption in the Port ecosystem with the legacy systems have remained the same for quite some time. Reportedly, Forwarders/Consolidators, Shipping Lines, Container Freight Stations and others in the Maritime ecosystem find it challenging to upgrade to a...

18 August, 2020 /

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the talking point across the logistics spectrum. Be it air or maritime, the logistics industry found itself held back by rigid processes. Anyhow, in the recent past, the dynamics began to change. Optimising processes, automating functions and more precisely, creating flexible processes are the key elements. Also, tracking end-to-end freight movement, reducing physical documentation and triggering advance...

08 June, 2020 /