CARGO 2000 FAILS TO IMPLEMENT TECHNOLOGY PLAN

CARGO 2000 FAILS TO IMPLEMENT TECHNOLOGY PLAN

   Cargo 2000, the interest group of 36 leading cargo airlines and forwarders, has decided to scrap its plan for developing a standard information technology network to link the air cargo industry.
   Cargo 2000 members had expected to pick at a meeting next month an IT vendor (either Unisys or Britain’s Syntegra) to develop a "common data management platform." But the group’s technical sub-committee has recommended that Cargo 2000 "should not dictate an information technology solution to members, rather it should encourage them to focus on opportunities to take cost out of the system by implementing the common standards set out in the (master operating plan) and by using the Internet as the communications platform."
   Cargo 2000 said it now wants to act as "a standards certification agency for the air freight industry." The group plans to set membership criteria, to monitor implementation and to certify carriers and forwarders that comply with the group’s service standards.
   Although Syntegra and Unisys "demonstrated that they could provide the technology we were looking for, a single source solution to the CDMP was not in the group’s best interest, as it would have slowed members down," said Jim Hartigan, Cargo 2000 chairman and vice president of cargo for United Airlines. "A multi-phase solution that enabled members to move at Internet speed was preferable."
   Formed under the auspices of the International Air Transport Association, Cargo 2000 has been working for three years to help airlines and forwarders share shipping data and speed the flow of air freight. Cargo 2000 members said a standard IT system would give them a competitive weapon against the international freight services offered by integrated carriers, such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service.