Cathay Pacific Cargo takes lead on two new Cargo iQ milestones

Cathay Pacific Cargo has become one of the first carriers to pioneer two new milestones in the Cargo iQ Master Operating Plan (MOP).

The new milestones, freight out of warehouse control (FOW) and freight into warehouse control (FIW), will bring more transparency to the overall shipment journey in the MOP and better measurement of ground-handling performance in the handover between the ramp operating handlers and the cargo terminal, and vice-versa, for imports and exports, at air waybill (AWB) level, according to a release from Cathay Pacific Cargo.

"The milestones are now operational at the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal in Hong Kong with a view for roll-out across the network."

Cargo iQ is a not-for-profit membership group supported by IATA composed of major airlines, freight forwarders, ground handling agents, trucking companies and IT providers who work together to bring standardisation and transparency to the air cargo journey, the statement said. "These two new messaging standards, FIW and FOW, in the end-to-end airfreight shipment journey bring the total number of milestones in the MOP to 20."

Cathay Pacific has been an active contributor to the working group since it was first established as Cargo 2000, 25 years ago. Today, Frosti Lau, General Manager, Cargo Service Delivery, Cathay Pacific, is on the Cargo iQ board and has helped shape the new developments. "We are delighted to be an early adopter of these two new milestones because we are dedicated to enhancing the quality control on our handling processes with the accountable parties," says Lau. "That's why we are working closely with our counterparts to launch these milestones so we can better monitor the performance of the handover of shipments between our ramp handling and cargo terminal subsidiaries at Hong Kong International Airport."

Earlier, the handover between the ramp and the warehouse needed users to compute the timings based on the ULD handover time taken from the raw data of the warehouse operating system. Now the same system can share that information at air waybill level for every flight. The system enhancement was deployed in May and the FIW and FOW messaging was activated at the start of July.

Cathay Pacific Cargo is now trialling these milestones in its own systems through an interface developed by Global Logistics System (HK) Co Ltd (GLSHK) with a view to using the additional visibility from these milestones to measure and enhance performance to deliver better service to customers. "GLSHK keeps investing in and improving the EDMP (Easy Data Management Platform) to support our partner airline, Cathay Pacific, so that it can stay ahead in shipment data-analysis and performance management," says Simon Ng, CEO, GLSHK.

This is the ultimate aim of the MOP and its milestones, adds Laura Rodriguez, Manager Implementation and Quality Assurance, Cargo iQ. "With this information, the industry will be able to identify pain points and make vital improvements to operational processes."

It also gives us, for the first time, the possibility to visualise the complete warehouse process from start to end within Cargo iQ, Rodriguez added.