Carriers and forwarders can exchange information on line
GLOBAL FREIGHT Exchange (GF-X), an Internet-based business-to-business initiative, will take the cargo industry into a new dimension when launched worldwide, says Ram Menen, Emirates SkyCargo director of cargo.
His airline has become the first in the world to complete training on GF-X and will start including live transactions in some of its northern hemisphere operations this month. Full global operations will be introduced when the test programmes have satisfied all requirements.
GF-X is a completely web-based wholesale market place for bona fide airlines and forwarders for the buying and selling of cargo capacity. A direct link to the inventory of participating carriers means that transactions can be completed on-line and information exchanged.
A great deal of work has gone into the actual working processes and practices within the airline and forwarding fields in order to create an exchange, says Menen. We see this system as a valuable instrument to serve our customers and we expect it to complement our own automation system, SkyChain.
Other carriers taking part in the pilot programme are American Airlines Cargo, British Airways World Cargo, Cargolux Airlines, Continental Airlines Cargo, DHL Aviation NV, Japan Airlines Cargo, Korean Air Cargo and Swisscargo.
Forwarders taking part include Circle International, Emery Worldwide, Fritz Companies, Kuehne & Nagel, MSAS Global Logistics, Panalpina, Yusen Air and Sea Service.
The freight market currently relies extensively on slow, inefficient paper-intensive commerce, he says.
GF-X will enable carriers and forwarders to go on-line to exchange information on capacity and price requirements against availability on given routes. Price and capacity changes can be communicated in real time and reservations can be made and confirmed without relying on paper processes.
Copyright Now Media (Pty) Ltd
No article may be reproduced without the written permission of the editor
To respond to this article send your email to joyo@nowmedia.co.za
