27 Oct Why the need for Cargo Community System is gaining traction worldwide?
In a time when major car companies such as Jaguar Land Rover are shipping auto parts across the world in suitcases and huge quantities of perishable goods are stranded at origin or destination ports and airports. Therefore, it is difficult to be confident in predicting for next 12 months. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak has thrown thousands of programs generating forecasts, planning and scheduling into chaos and its on-going effects will no doubt create an anomaly in air cargo statistics for decades to come.
So, do events such as the coronavirus mean that working to increase levels of supply chain visibility and data generation through digitisation, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and other means – to better predict future trends and demand – is a waste of time? Or, maybe, access to the right data at the right time, and/ or interrogating it in different ways, can help companies adjust more quickly to the new circumstances and even take advantage of them. One of the great benefits of digitization is the ability for closer cooperation between suppliers, customers and their supply chain partners. This, in turn, increases the potential to respond more quickly and efficiently when planned deliveries are delayed or major regional disruptions occur.
Every player in the supply chain must feel confident that sharing their data does not constitute a commercial risk – especially where a supplier works for several competitors. And the customer must feel equally confident that the data and information they receive is accurate. This is precisely what Airport Cargo Community System does much better, as everyone sees the same data at the same time, with the bottlenecks or points of failure much easier to identify – and so to fix. Well, over the years, cargo visibility, reducing inefficiencies and the causes of manual documentation were considered as bottlenecks. Added to those, truck congestion was also a predominant issue causing operational delays. Now, these challenges are addressed with a 360 degree digitalisation drive powered by technologies such as machine learning and AI.
These technologies are offering cognitive as well as predictive capabilities to perform operations smartly. Now, an air cargo community system are slowly picking up pace across the world. But the reason to choose the same is not conventional. Here are some challenges due to which airports around the globe are sticking to cargo community systems.
Ensuring data security
EDI message triggers are an inbuilt feature of community platforms. They eliminate the need for paper documents and enable instant data sharing on milestone completion. Earlier, with disconnected ERP systems in place, each stakeholder could email the documents on a static format to the next stakeholder in the fray. But not essentially the other one waiting to take the baton forward is digitally equipped. In such cases, the document will have to be printed and physically presented to the stakeholder. There are challenges involved in this step, the primary ones being delay and security risks of data leakage. Whereas with EDI trigger, the information shared is secured and specific to the stakeholders who share it among each other. Therefore, there is no scope of security breach.
Regulatory compliance
As the industry is now penetrating deep, the regulations as well grew. As on date, the regulations to send cargo from one country to the other is so high that not adhering to the same will lead to enormous delays. Be it Ground Handlers, Freight Forwarders or Customs Brokers to name a few, all of them have a process to follow to adhere with the guidelines. Failing to do so will hamper their operations. In turn, to incorporate and adhere to regulatory compliance.
Becoming future ready
With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the global supply chain, now there is clear emphasis on keeping the supply chain dynamic. Despite the uncertainties, the supply chain must be functioning. To ensure the same, stakeholders are becoming future ready and to enable it, a Cargo Community System comes handy. Right from automations to integrations and real-time status updates, all those are in line with the digital infrastructure.
With all these futuristic attributes, air cargo community system offers multi-dimensional capabilities to cut down on redundant and manual processes. By doing so, adhering to compliance and ensuring trade facilitation will not be a distant dream.