Redefining Air Cargo Operations MORE efficient, effective and flexible for a ground handler in Asia region
Overview.
A wholly owned subsidiary of an Airline Group Company, the client has designed, built, and operationalized a new cargo terminal at the Hong Kong International Airport. It has a handling capacity of 7.4 million tons per annum and an annual throughput of 2.6 million tons. The terminal is specially designed for cargo hub operations, and it provides an extensive range of cargo handling services to the customers.
'How can a successful, growing, wholly owned subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based Airline Group Company better handle cargo to gain a competitive edge?' This was the question posed to us by one of our clients seeking help in facilitating the cargo operations in the terminals. We addressed this with our planning and monitoring tool—Warehouse Operating System (WOS). WOS improved the efficiency of warehouse operations, enabled employees to handle cargo hub operations effectively, and ensured higher operating margins for the company.
To improve the handling operations, the client wanted a cargo planning application even before the completion of the warehouse construction. However, there was a lack of understanding of how the warehouse would operate after the planning application was introduced. Besides these challenges, the client wanted to simulate the flight arrivals and Unit Loading Devices (ULDs) and use event generators and complex user interface visuals to provide new real-time event polling and status updates.
The client sought a planning and monitoring tool to remove the inefficiencies arising from incorrect planning by the distribution center. We were chosen as preferred partners for this engagement, given our global capabilities and deep expertise in handling the complexities of warehouse operations.
Solution.
To optimize warehouse efficiencies and improve the operational efficiency of warehouse managers, we invested time in understanding the business unit and business development process before refining the interface of the planning application. The key objective was to maximize the use of the existing application and simplify warehouse operations.
We also addressed the critical and complex requirements of the client with a fully turnkey solution, WOS. WOS is a planning and monitoring tool that allows employees to see the plan for the next decision cycle, indicates flights and ULDs that cannot be included in the plan, and makes interactive changes in ULD and flight assignments. With WOS, they can also re-plan the entire set of operations with reality checks.
The Impact.
Value creation and warehouse operation optimization have always been cornerstones of our partnership—identifying every opportunity for process improvements and user satisfaction.
Our planning and monitoring tool has produced immediate qualitative benefits for the client:
More Effectiveness: We effectively streamlined cargo-handling operations with the help of the tool.
More Efficiency: We were able to indicate flights and ULDs that were not part of the plan in the application, enabling warehouse managers to handle them efficiently.
More Flexibility: WOS allowed interactive changes in ULDs and flight assignments. Its configuration enabled the client to think of future enhancements to the system.
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