Airport access permits to get barcoding feature soon

National roll-out in the next three months
THE INCORPORATION
of barcode identification
of cargo as a feature of the
new Air Cargo Permit system
at OR Tambo International
Airport is less than two
months away.
The current ACP, which
is now the only legitimate
permit for the collection and
delivery of goods in the cargo
area of ORTIA, electronically
identifies the name of the
person drawing cargo, his
photo, his signature and the
drawing company - all live
and in realtime.
Agents who have
multiple pieces for
collection can take the
security feature one step
further by linking the drawer
of cargo to a particular
piece by manually entering
the data.
“The first priority was to
implement the new permit
system and set up terminals
at the airline warehouse,”
says IVS managing director
Marius van Jaarsveld. “Next
on our agenda will be
for the freight agents to
make use of the additional
security benefits this offers,”
he said, and the barcode
feature will play a big role.
“We’re 80% there in
terms of development,” says
Van Jaarsveld, who expects
the system to be up and
running within the next
six weeks. “The barcode
will then be scanned in as
soon as cargo arrives in the
warehouse and this will
automatically generate an
email or SMS so that the
forwarder knows exactly
what cargo has come into
the warehouse and who
checked it in,” he told FTW.
“After details have been
captured and cargo has
arrived in the warehouse
we can interface with other
software systems to transfer
the information to the
agent’s system.”
SA Police Service also
has access to the system
which provides information
on all permit holders. “And
once the barcoding is up
and running, Customs will
be able to monitor cargo
more effectively,” he added.
“The permit facility
has been developed to the
industry’s specifications.
“Development costs
are very expensive. We
are trying to develop
something from which the
industry as a whole can
derive collective benefit
and are open to any
further suggestions for
enhancements.”
“What’s important,” says
Van Jaarsveld, “is that it’s
entirely web-driven. There
is no hardware or software
installation required and
it will not interfere with
existing software and
internal systems that
companies are using. All you
need is the internet.”
The new permit system
will be rolled out to all
other airports within the
next three months.