ESC, CARGO 2000 TO CREATE AIR CARGO PERFORMANCE BENCHMARK

ESC, CARGO 2000 TO CREATE AIR CARGO PERFORMANCE BENCHMARK    The European Shippers’ Council and Cargo 2000 have said they will develop a new global benchmarking standard for shippers to measure the performance of their air-cargo service providers.
   ESC, which represents the interests of air cargo shippers in Europe, will merge its two-year-old “Key Performance Indicators and Best Practices” with Cargo 2000’s so-called “Master Operating Plan.” Cargo 2000 represents 28 of the industry’s largest freight forwarders and airlines.
   Industry analysts consider this a big step toward breaking down the traditional barriers between the forwarder/airline and shipper industries.
   “For the first time, we have an opportunity for customers and suppliers to not only sit down and discuss their requirements but to work towards producing a single industry standard that could ultimately be adopted globally,” said Chris Welsh, secretary general of ESC.
   Representatives of both ESC and Cargo 2000 will resume talks about the joint benchmark measures in Paris on April 3. Cargo 2000 board members will also discuss the initiative in Hong Kong later this month.
   “Cargo 2000 has to continue to listen to the voice of shippers,” said Ron Cesana, project director for Cargo 2000. “We have demonstrated our willingness to work alongside the ESC to integrate its existing KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) into our own quality system and we are confident of making progress.”
   “Our goal is the same and we can move this process forward at a much faster rate by working together,” Cesana added. “Ultimately, we hope to develop a new single standard that will be applied by the global air cargo industry and other international shipper councils.”
   Cargo 2000 is implementing the first phase of its Master Operating Plan, the result of two years of work and discussion with major shippers. A “gap analysis” test of the system involving master air waybills in 29 trade lanes was completed the end of last year.
   “The first phase of the implementation program focuses on controlling the airport-to-airport cycle at master waybill level. Once a booking is made, a plan is automatically created with a series of check points against which the movement is managed and measured. This enables the system to alert the Cargo 2000 member to any exceptions to the plan, allowing the relevant airline and forwarder to pro-actively respond to fulfill the customer expectation,” Cargo 2000 said.
   Future phases of the implementation will include door-to-door deliveries at house waybill level and eventually piece-level identification.