The air freight industry is faced with escalating freight costs, increasing supply chain complexity and the increased demands of globalization. Adding to those challenges is the need to address more complex cargo security issues; more government and industry regulations/compliance demands; and shipment monitoring and accountability.
Even today, the air freight shipment management process for the most part is manual, making the job of addressing all these issues more challenging than ever. While government and industry compliance body demands are imposing and introducing regulations and compliance initiatives that consume more time and resources, businesses are demanding the speed and accuracy of just-in-time global sourced shipments.
The general feeling is that bureaucracy is slowing business processes, putting the air freight industry in the middle of a tug of war. However, if the industry approaches this dilemma through automation and standardization of the shipment management process they can not only reduce the complexity and costs, they can also realize a significant increase in efficiencies and improved security.