Change management and an understanding of the value of technology remain core to Awery’s business development.
There doesn’t always seem to be much logic behind why some business investments are made near instantly and others require months of prolonged debate, and the same can be said about the adoption of air technology.
For Awery Aviation Software, the focus is very much on perfecting its technology, because it’s not possible to control sales.
Phaedra den Hertog, customer success officer at the UAE-headquartered company, believes that investment caution related to the price of technology is sometimes related to a lack of understanding of its value and benefits.
After all, there are often huge financial outlays associated with physical infrastructure. These days, digital infrastructure is just as important.
“It is what value you put on a product,” emphasises den Hertog.
Sometimes companies build the costs of investing in or updating technology into their business plans, she explains.
“Then prices are accepted without any resistance. But in other instances, there is negotiation, and they don’t see the value.”
But when a company has already invested significantly in operations, funding technology to make operations more effective or efficient is a logical consideration.
Alongside understanding the value of technology, change management to align technology implementation and company culture – i.e. to make the changes necessary for employees to be receptive and willing to work with technology is important.
“I think with every change, you need change management and the willingness of people to adopt a change. They have to be open to it,” says den Hertog.
She explains that consulting with a company to identify how they work, ascertaining the best way of onboarding the technology, and highlighting the challenges and concerns across affected employees is important.
“In doing onboarding with new customers, we can understand what the exact needs or the process flows are and discuss how to change a system to be more efficient and to provide a better user experience.”
There is, understandably, caution that alongside automation, digitalisation could threaten jobs. “Awery’s goal is not to reduce the number of people inside a company. Our goal is to help the same number of people handle more business.”
Of course, air cargo continues to face ongoing criticism about the slow speed at which it has approached digitalisation and is increasing under pressure with the ONE Record adoption deadline of 2026.
However, as den Hertog notes: “Air cargo is maybe 15 years behind passenger, but on the other hand, you cannot compare passenger and cargo, it’s a little bit apples and pears.”
And you don’t have to look far to see digitalisation developments around the industry.
New products
Awery, which now has more than 100 customers - including about 45 GSAs, is no exception to the detail-oriented and specialised innovation being rolled out in the industry now.
The company launched a new Cargo Claims tool in March that is part of its Total Cargo Management solution for airlines, a customisable and tailored product for fleet management, bookings, accounting etc., that uses the modules available from Awery’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform.
Cargo Claims, primarily for airlines but which can also be used by GSAs, is designed to make processing and settling a claim for missing cargo straightforward.
All necessary written and photographic resources can be compiled and collated using the tool.
Each claim case is also linked to the relevant airway bill to help make the process more comprehensive and easier to navigate.
“You can add all your photos and documentation to the system, so there is less physical paperwork but a full digital record in one place,” says den Hertog.
Similarly well utilised, Awery’s ERP system can be integrated into the websites of customers via Awery’s Application Programming Interface (API) tool to enable its software applications to communicate and exchange data with other software applications.
It offers a large number of different business management modules to cater to airlines, charter brokers, aviation service providers, cargo handling agents, plus express operators and couriers.
There are also separate solutions for GSSAs and e-commerce.
One major contract for Awery came in March last year, when it partnered with Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad Cargo to implement a customised version of its ERP system to manage the airline’s cargo chartering programme.
Awery’s online booking and quoting portal, CargoBooking is also a core part of the company’s product portfolio.
The portal allows airlines and General Sales Agents (GSAs) to provide freight forwarders with real-time air cargo rate distribution, quotes, and booking options.
The quotes and bookings data available to companies on CargoBooking can provide very precise insights into market dynamics.
“For example, on the cargo booking side, you can see, based on all the quotes and bookings, what is the busiest time of the year, or even the busiest hour of the day,” explains den Hertog.
Awery is now using ChatGPT to enhance its AI-based eMagic solution that is included with CargoBooking.
The job of eMagic is to convert emails, tables and images from various formats into a standard digital format to reduce manual data inputs, increase accuracy and save time.
“We’re using ChatGPT over our existing software to improve accuracy. ChatGPT will read the content of emails for our eMagic tool. The software will then translate it into a quote.”
Global expansion
First launched in South Africa in early 2023, Awery’s open-access CargoBooking platform was rolled out in Europe in the second half of 2023.
As well as usage by European air cargo operators across the UK and countries including Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and Austria, the company now has plans to expand in the US, Asia and further into Africa.
“We have 92 freight forwarders now signed up to Cargo Booking in South Africa,” confirms den Hertog.
“We had a very good set of GSSAs there that were willing to start the open marketplace by adding their capacity and rates.”
But does technology adoption in Africa differ to other parts of the world?
On this subject, den Hertog indicates the less developed air cargo market lends itself to more flexibility and less apprehension about digitalisation.
“Africa is a relatively young market in terms of air cargo and growth, and maybe that’s a benefit. They have an easier adaptation, because they’re not used to working in a certain way for many years,” she suggests.
Increased capacity and networks on the continent mean there is “a lot of potential” for product rollout, she believes.
Globally, there is continual work to innovate as market needs evolve, assures den Hertog.
“Awery is ready to and is integrating with major key players where we can," she says.
“We keep on investing in and changing and improving systems and we are always looking for developments.”
