WFS launches new dock management system in North America
Another feature of WFS’ ePic Enterprise Solution, which is now operational at 52 WFS airport stations across U.S.
Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a member of the SATS Group, has begun rolling out a new Dock Management System in North America, which has already reduced truck waiting times at its operations in New York JFK by more than 20 percent.
"The solution is another feature of WFS’ in-house developed ePic Enterprise Solution, which is now operational at 52 WFS airport stations across the U.S," says an official release.
"Epic has been designed by cargo people for cargo people as a unifying e-business platform that enables collaboration and simplified communication within the cargo community stakeholders: shippers, freight forwarders, truckers, airlines, ground handling agents, consignees, and regulatory bodies."
The new Dock Management System will be implemented across WFS’ major airport locations in North America over the next 12 months with Atlanta, Miami, and Boston next in line to adopt the solution, says the release. Trucking companies, consignees, and forwarders will be able to create their own slot booking for cargo drop-off or recovery at WFS stations, ensuring better optimisation of truck yards and alleviating congestion.
"Other systems improvements include the addition of:
*Warehouse progress monitoring – real-time KPIs, using live flight data from Flightaware to track arrival and departure information and the breakdown and build-up of cargo to meet customers’ service level agreements (SLAs);
*Integrated scale – iPads in WFS’ warehouse operations are being connected to each weighing scale in its facilities to enter shipment weights automatically into the system, eliminating potential errors involved in manual processes. The new solution has already been fitted to 60 percent of the scales in WFS’ cargo stations in the US;
*ICS2 integration - "In conjunction with airline partners, WFS is rolling out Import Control System 2 (ICS2) integration and functionality to assist with compliance to the incoming EU customs regulations. Intuitive inhibitors are being introduced to ensure that Held shipments are not loaded erroneously; and
*Barcode integration– barcode reading applications installed in ePic will support installations of the RAFT fully automated pallet storage system, initially at New York JFK. This helps the system to quickly and accurately read and inventory cargo for input from the warehouse and dispersal to delivery agents. Ultimately, this is expected to allow additional functionality, including tracking export cargo acceptance and movement through the warehouse."
Shawnpaul Booth, Vice President, Cargo, NOAM, WFS says: “For WFS in North America, ePic is ahead of other handling software because it is constantly evolving based on expertise from the field. We have a process to continually look at requests from within our business, which can come from warehouse supervisors or office agents and we prioritise them. The improvements we make are driven by users. The fact that ePic is designed to be quite a simple system, means building APIs is very quick and easy, which is leading airline customers to ask us to implement it within their own locations because they see the efficiencies where we work with them."
ePic allows WFS to use a single system to handle multiple airline customers in multiple facilities using one centralised solution, simplifying operational processes, training requirements, and maximising efficiencies, the release said.
