CHEP wins $20,000 innovation award
16 / 03 / 2015
Floris Kleijn, IT director and project leader at CHEP Aerospace Solutions, said he was “humbled” to top the delegate poll in IATA’s inaugural Air Cargo Innovation Awards, presented during the World Cargo Symposium (WCS) in Shanghai.
CHEP receives $20,000 for its CanTrack ULD tracker, which incorporates a solar panel to solve the problem of short battery life and a sensor which can record impact, shock, motion and temperature exposure.
Kleijn said the system, currently on trial with Air Canada and Hawaiian Airlines, had potential to benefit the whole supply chain by reducing damage rates and improving ULD stock availability.
An independent panel shortlisted three award entries from an initial 25, and each finalist briefly presented its concept ahead of the deciding vote. Former IATA head of cargo Des Vertannes said each finalist fitted the conference theme of “improving the customer experience”.
Runners-up CLIVE and CargoHub each win $8,000. CLIVE’s software focuses on three processes that developer Niall van de Wouw says are not sufficiently covered by existing industry packages: allocation management, demand forecasting and operations management. DHL has described the allocation function as “an amazing leap forward”.
The operations management application will enable users to respond more quickly and efficiently to disruptions to flights and shipment planning. Van de Wouw hopes to establish proof of concept by the end of this year and claimed: “Businesses can expect to save two per cent on their costs, potentially adding millions of dollars to their bottom line.”
CargoClaims, launched by CargoHub last January, promises to remove complexity from claims procedures that can often take up to two years.
Business development manager Kiona van de Burg said shippers, forwarders, handlers and carriers could share a single integrated platform through which to lodge claims. “Centralising all the data makes it visible to all parties. Each stakeholder can draw information from one file and view current status,” she said.
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