More than half of the Europeans’ are “e-shoppers” and then we are only talking about Europe. Worldwide, e-commerce have become the engine of the logistics sector and provides a major contribution in 2017 to the increasing cargo volumes. When these goods must travel long distances, it seems that transport by air is the fastest and easiest method. But is that really true?

It appears that the handling of administrative processes practically have not changed the past six years and even seems to inhibit the potential of air cargo. Looking at the supply chain, 21 documents must be send 40 times during 20 different steps. And for a simple freight shipment, customs authorities request on average 70 times for data. Besides that, customs departments set different requirements for registration and airlines request information about shipments which are not even available. Looking at the current process shows it is complicated and outdated. Causing the increasing risks of mistakes. Let alone the potential existence of a transparent process.

In a recently released report, the International Air Cargo Association’s (IATA) therefore stresses the need for a major chance on digitization and a better collaboration between all stakeholders in the air cargo supply chain industry. The organization sees it as a necessity to accelerate the adoption of new technologies to avoid duplication of effort, reduce the risk of errors and to achieve improved efficiency. As SupplyChainDive nicely worded: “Air cargo industry must relieve itself of paperwork burden”.

Goodbye paperwork, hello digital transformation

And let’s face it, you would probably also prefer to have a process where one-time data entry is enough. Luckily, with the introduction of digital transformation duplication of activities is no longer necessary and the possibilities of digitalization are widespread available.

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