Speed, precision, and clarity are needed to successfully navigate today’s highly volatile air cargo market: three factors that form the basis of CargoTech’s growing portfolio of digital solutions designed to steer the industry through changing and challenging conditions.
“The air cargo market has always faced volatility. Inflation, regulations, interest rates, consumer demand and trends all affect the flow of goods. Where human experience and intuition were once drawn upon to cope with change, now growing data histories and technological developments enable fast, effective digital solutions that support businesses in quickly predicting and reacting to shifting variables.” says Michael Teoh, Head of Strategy at CargoTech
Volatility is picking up pace – so is better decision making through greater clarity
Volatility is not a new phenomenon in the air cargo industry, but increasing globalization means it now faces even more influencing factors. Capacity constraints, changing regulations, fast-growing cross-border e-commerce, geopolitical uncertainties, pending trade tariffs and shifting regulations – these variables all impact supply chains and, since 2022 – mid-pandemic, CargoTech’s mission is to harness their predictability as best possible.
“CargoTech set out as a one-stop-tech-shop to unite and digitally fortify the air cargo industry at a time of global upheaval.” says Cédric Millet, President of CargoTech. It invests heavily in technology providers specializing in different areas along the air cargo supply chain, and has firmly established itself amongst key air cargo stakeholders willing to transform and provide their organizations with the tools to maneuver and make better decisions.
The value of data and decision support solutions in volatile situations
Rotate’s strengths illustrate the enormous commercial steering potential that data offers the air cargo industry. Rotate provides data, consulting and software – all highly beneficial services when looking to navigate today’s air cargo market.
Rotate’s fleet, network and sales steering software help airlines adjust and right-size their network and Origin-Destination-mix to where the opportunity is. The software is fast and makes it easy to test for lots of different scenarios and sensitivities. The Sales Cockpit generates sales initiatives for salespeople. The tool reads the latest available market data and has algorithms that process that data and provides sales leads.
Wiremind Cargo brings added value to its customers by leveraging large and complex sets of data and translating them into actionable recommendations for users. This is typically true for its capacity and revenue management solutions which are precisely tailored to meet rapidly changing situations. A sudden increase in passenger demand means more space is required for the luggage in the aircraft hold, and therefore less capacity for cargo.
In contrast to manual processes, AI’s main strengths are the size of the datasets it can use to learn, and its ability to spot complex patterns influenced by several combined factors. Thus, in a volatile environment where factors such as capacity, demand, or operational constraints constantly change, AI can quickly react to these and provide impactful and relevant recommendations.
Real-time, enhanced connectivity and visibility are key
Volatility in the air cargo charter niche market has finally found a digital patron in Aerios. With quickly changing demand and lack of air freight capacity, charter operators often experience a rapid surge in customers rushing to find a solution. The same request may come in 15 times over, as customers look to cover the market. Those carriers relying on manual methods to quote, may struggle to keep track of which requests have been quoted on, and to maintain consistent pricing across their team and customers. The Aerios carrier App not only helps to organize and keep track of this request tsunami, but also significantly speeds up the carrier’s customer response time.
Accurate, up-to-date data on airline capacity, pricing, and market trends, as well as predictive insights into potential disruptions is what customers need to make informed business decisions. This is exactly the information CargoAi delivers through its intuitive platform and API connections. CargoAi’s real-time integrations with airlines, TMS and freight forwarders ensure that users see live data updates as they occur, enabling decisions based on the most current market conditions available. From instant rate information to booking cargo, paying suppliers or tracking a shipment, CargoAi always offers the most up-to-date information allowing its customers to quickly adapt to changing market conditions. CargoAi ensures that they have the visibility and flexibility needed to make agile, informed decisions in volatile environments.
“With the wide range of AI-enhanced, data powered digital solutions that our CargoTech members offer, we’ve pretty much become a one-stop-digital-crystal-ball – and one that is constantly being polished for even better clarity and decision making” Cédric Millet concludes.
