Smart Tech Tracks Air Cargo Equipment Anywhere, Anytime

The global air freight market will grow from US$ 270.3 billion in 2021 to US$ 390.7 billion by 2027, according to a state-of-the-market report by the IMARC Group. Airlines should invest in a fleet of transport equipment, including unit load devices (ULDs), to accelerate time-to-market and monetize demand in cargo operations. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that more than one million ULDs are in circulation since they were commissioned in the 1950s.

Every airline maintains an inventory of air cargo equipment, including special purpose ULDs for temperature-sensitive cargo and animal transport, to address the shipping requirements of every flight. Further, airlines exchange ULDs with one another, during transcontinental flights. While Section 4.8 of the IATA Air Cargo Tariff and Rules Manual recommends that airlines and ULD owners should levy demurrage charges to spur prompt return, airlines rarely impose penalties even though delay in return leads to shortage, and additional procurement of ULDs.

Tracking ULDs

Each ULD has a unique identification code, which is mapped with contract identifiers such as waybills and consignment notes as well as the voyage number of a flight to trace the movement of individual consignments. This enables compliance with IATA Resolution 753, which requires airlines to track each passenger baggage item, from origin to destination. However, a majority of carriers, cargo operators, and ground management teams pause tracking at the departure point of the cargo, thereby losing the ULD trail.

Counterintuitive as it seems in the digital age, tracking of ULDs is a persistent challenge. Tracing the movement of ULDs through several loading, unloading and transloading points is possible due to the digitization of flight operations. But ULDs parked in the apron, abandoned at the warehouse, or stored beyond the vicinity of stakeholder groups constitute idle inventory. Manual processes for tracking off-aircraft ULDs further hampers visibility.

Leading airlines adopt technology solutions to trace the location of ULDs, ensure timely availability of ULDs, and streamline air freight operations. Delta Air Lines and Air Canada leverage radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, while Air New Zealand and Silk Way West Airlines have installed Bluetooth-enabled tracking systems. Several airlines and ground handlers use global positioning system (GPS) for locating ULDs and tracking movement.

Digital solutions monitor and report movement accurately, thereby reducing loss due to misrouted, misloaded, and lost ULDs as well as flight delays and cancellations. Real-time tracking also maximizes asset utilization and rationalizes costs. However, these solutions do not capitalize on real-time transfer of data between systems to improve operational efficiency.

A functional solution

Infosys Global ULD Tracer, a cloud-based as-a-service platform, transcends ULD location traceability. It not only drives superior location-based services via real-time tracking and end-to-end asset visibility, but also applies ULD data for predictive analytics. The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform integrates the functionalities of disparate tracking tools, and supports diverse input sources such as manual, barcode, RFID, Bluetooth, and camera. Notably, it complies with the IATA ONE Record data model for standardized data sharing between parties.

Our platform aggregates ULD availability and movement data across suppliers, airlines, freight forwarders, and ground handling agents to provide real-time updates on ULD status, location and condition. It shares the sequence preview of tail-to-tail ULD transfer, which helps trace the ULD provider, airline, route, station, and flight schedule. It also offers a 360-degree view of global ULD inventory and logistics operations, which enables ground handlers and executives to promptly identify unused and under-utilized equipment, using mobile applications. Significantly, our AI-driven solution enhances the efficiency of air freight operations by forecasting the ETA of ULDs for every flight departure and supporting bespoke analytics for load optimization and operations planning.

The cloud enhances the accuracy and convenience of tracking air cargo equipment. ULD managers, ground service providers and airlines should use the comprehensive movement record of transport assets to boost inventory management as well as the logistics and transport supply chain.

Here’s more details on Global ULD Tracer solution:

Video: https://videos.infosys.com/watch/XHdZH76Bx4wrFneavbWobW

PoV: GLOBAL ULD TRACER (infosys.com)