Slot booking helps Liege handler improve truck handling times

Liege Airport Cargo Handling Services (LACHS) has reduced its truck handling times through the implementation of a slot booking system from Nallian.

LACHS, which handles almost 200,000 tonnes of cargo per year and 150 trucks per day, said that using the system had helped it reduced the average time it takes to handle a truck, including paperwork and warehouse operations, to two hours from three hours previously.

This has helped the company improve productivity by 33% in the six months since the booking system was put into use, Nallian said.

The app allows LACHS to make capacity available using a wide range of parameters, such as cargo type, type of location, day type etc.

The booker requests a slot and the system automatically matches availability and demand or proposes alternatives when needed.

Drivers who arrive with a booked slot enjoy priority treatment, both when accessing the cargo zone and at the registration desk.

One of the key drivers for using Slot Booking at Liege Airport was ensuring the highest level of customer service while dealing with this rapid growth.

“Our main ambition was to improve the quality of our service, not to work faster. Using the Slot Booking application, we managed to do both,” said Hossaine El Bouayadi, IT manager and business process development at LACHS.

“The Slot Booking app helps us to better channel pick-ups and deliveries.

“We can make sure we have the right staff and equipment available when the drivers arrive, and prepare the goods pro-actively.

“It also enables us to better coordinate acceptance and warehouse operations, which makes life easier for both our staff and the drivers, and speeds up operations.”

Aurélie Dethier, deputy customer service and operations manager at Liege Airport, added: “We have implemented the LGG Cargo Cloud with the aim to empower all actors at our  to drive efficiency and transparency in their cross-company processes. We are excited about these results and look forward to extending the benefits of the Slot Booking to the other ground handlers active at our airport shortly.” 

Nallian chief executive Jean Verheyen said: “Liege Airport was, worldwide, the fastest growing cargo airport in 2018 and we are thrilled to see our collaborative applications are helping them to drive this growth in their cargo operations.

“Enabling airports to drive efficiency and transparency by ‘working as one’ is one of the reasons why we designed Nallian for Air Cargo. It is also why we keep continuously keep on extending our open app ecosystem, together with forward-looking players such as Liege Airport and their cargo community.”