coverstory ULDs GO FLEXI-MODE TO RESPOND TO ADHOC AND CRITICAL CARGO Surya Kannoth A significant percentage of air cargo moving from Asia to across the world today is Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. However, carriers are challenged to move such critical freight due to a global imbalance of ULDs. The short supply of ULDs for critical cargo shipments and flexible leasing options, stock availability in the right locations and quick response times can help carriers to find new revenue streams and opportunities, which can be instrumental in keeping their businesses afloat. ACLAirshop PHOTO:

2 | JUNE 2020 www.stattimes.com he current times are uncertain and more ULDs every day. Chaotic fast changes In the current environment, it is critical a flexible supply chain holds key in actually favour the business model of that there are solutions available in the the air cargo sector, in particular, ACL Airshop, and our customers know we market that is easily adaptable for multiple which plays a critical role in main- always strive to be rapidly responsive,” said application usage. There is an increasing Ttaining the expedited movement of goods Steve Townes, CEO, ACL Airshop. demand for such solutions that are diverse and perishables. Given the fluid air cargo With air cargo making it to passenger when needed, yet effectively repositioned environment, the visibility of Unit Load De- seats, ULD players are aware of the urgency into supply chain as regular assets. vices (ULD) and their continuous availability to react to the unique crisis. “The availability “We provide a specific custom solution has become more important than ever to of containers and pallets is now more criti- to every single customer, whether you help ensure efficient movement of critical cal than ever and all our staff are working are leasing for a few days or weeks, a few PPE shipments and better management of hard to make sure that we provide the ULDs months with a lease/purchase, or have shipping assets. ULDs are the only aircraft necessary for our customers’ flights around a 3 to 5-year management contract for parts that leave the control of the airline the globe. Our service delivery is guaran- an entire fleet plus logistics services and and return after passing through many teed at the same high levels as before in innovative technologies. Our customers unregulated hands, as most ULD operations spite of the restrictions and difficulties that must react flexibly to the constant volatility are outsourced to ground service providers. most companies are facing nowadays,” said of the air cargo market worldwide, and we At such times, flexible leasing options serve Benoit Dumont, CEO, Unilode. are rapidly adaptive to that. Especially right to cover peak demands. ULD manufactur- Moving forward, flexibility is going to now, we see new shifts, changing patterns ers and ULD management companies are be key. “We feel that airlines are going to of demand, evolving paradigms, and ACL now working on such options, which they need to be able to deploy assets in a cargo Airshop is flexing right alongside our cus- believe, can be tapped into with little lead network that can not only cope with the tomers,” said ACL Airshop’s Townes. time, geared mostly for ad hoc require- day-to-day rigours of distribution but can In the US, for example, there is often ments of certain ULD types. be used to deliver tangible service enhance- a surplus of ULDs, while in China there “The market is fluid and fast-changing ments that delivers value to their custom- is frequently a shortage. The supply and right now, and we are leasing more and ers,” said Tom Pherson, president, AEROTUF. demand mismatch between the two

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The market is fluid and fast-changing right now, and we are leasing more and more ULDs every day. Chaotic fast changes actually favour the business model of ACL Airshop, and our customers know we always strive to be rapidly responsive Steve Townes, ACL Airshop ACLAirshop PHOTO:

The collapsible AAY Container countries is a major reason for this imbal- ers may be a solution for a situation like Weighing in at approximately 280kg (617lbs), ance. The demand for Chinese products this. In October 2019, ACL Airshop became the container can be erected and collapsed is greater in the US than the demand for the launch customer for these collapsible by two people in just two minutes. When American products in China, which means AAY containers and the first to market folded, the container is seven times smaller, many more ULDs are going east to west. It is these for its lease fleet thus optimising its and has a height of only 255mm (10”). The not just the trade lanes between countries management capabilities. VRR, the design units can be stacked up to four high on the that are suffering an imbalance; trade lanes and manufacturing company behind the B737F main deck, and six high on the lower between companies are facing the same collapsible AAY container, believes that this deck of a wide-body aircraft. On land, the issue, too. Around 20 percent of trade flow is solution will help solve the current global units can be stored up to six high. imbalanced, according to air cargo calcula- imbalance in main deck containers. These tions. Until recently, what to do with empty containers will help save on logistics costs Tech-enabled ULD fleet ULDs was a major concern, especially with and can be moved in larger quantities using management storage space at airports being both scarce less volume, thus saving time and money Companies have been investing heavily and expensive. Collapsible ULDs or contain- for the airline and the end consumer. in new technologies for tracking and

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We are enhancing our ULD management systems with an automated and AI-driven software product to streamline the handling of ULD management-related communications and coordinate logistics activities much

quicker with ground Aviation SolutionsUnilode

handlers, airlines PHOTO: and the freight when and where their ULDs are, where be used for urgently needed freight. At the communities they are going, and other status metrics.” same time, storage costs for overstocks Benoit Dumont To speed up the search for the right can also be reduced in some cases," said Unilode ULDs, skypooling, the online platform for Christine Klemmer, general manager of the global exchange of ULDs, is now offer- skypooling in a press release. tracing ULDs and in ULD fleet manage- ing the function for emergency inquiries, Jettainer’s global leasing offer for adhoc ment, which in the current situation, are which is otherwise only unlimitedly avail- needs, JettLease, also assists in this endeav- very critical. ACL Airshop’s FindMyULD able to premium users, to all participants our. Jettainer provides existing customers, app is specifically designed to enhance free of charge. In this way, inquiries can be but mostly non-ULD customers with units every data requirement end-to-end in addressed to all users simultaneously. Leas- at stations that are outside of their regular air cargo transactions, across the entire ing companies also have the option to of- flight schedule. In China in particular, pre- worldwide ecosystem of the air cargo fer their ULDs on the skypooling platform, dominantly in Shanghai, the demand has industry. From location and status so that users can contact the companies recently increased significantly. The growing accuracy to barcoding and Bluetooth directly in an emergency, if they cannot number of charter flights with medical scanning and tracking, FindMyULD pulls find suitable matches. equipment or humanitarian freight mainly together all of ACL Airshop's ULD man- "We are currently registering overstocks explains the unpredictable need of ULDs. In agement services in one seamless tool. of ULDs in many places, but about every addition to suitcase and freight containers, Explaining how the app has been aiding third entry on our platform is a search pallets, car racks and horse stalls, nets for its customers, Townes said, “FindMyULD query. We are therefore calling out to all securing goods in freight and passenger continues to provide our ULD Control airlines to report their overstocks on sky- machines complete the offer of JettLease. customers 24/7 access to their assets. pooling. The more airlines take advantage “Especially in emergency and crisis With the swipe of a screen, they know of the service, the better the devices can situations airfreight is of central im-

6 | JUNE 2020 www.stattimes.com of ULD management-related communica- makes the tracking of the whereabouts of tions and coordinate logistics activities the assets much easier, reliable and efficient much quicker with ground handlers, airlines as it improves data quality and therefore and the freight communities. This applica- the efficient use of the ULDs. tion will further improve the quality and In January 2020, Unilode announced response times of all our customer contact its partnership with Freshworks Inc., the methods,” Dumont explained. customer engagement software company. One of the main benefits of Unilode’s Freshworks provides customer engagement digital solution is that enables the geo- software to businesses of all sizes, making it tracking of the ULD and its cargo, and this easy for customer support, marketing sales, provides global asset visibility without the and customer success professionals to com- need for manual and laborious, and often municate more effectively with customers. inaccurate messages sent by the GHAs. It Freshworks offers a full suite of SaaS (Soft-

HIGH FASHION DESERVES TO FLY HIGH

Digitised main deck containers portance. With our international network we can provide the required unit loading devices quickly and flexibly. I would like to thank the entire team that is doing its utmost for days to meet the increasing demand for short-term solutions,” said Thomas Sonntag, managing director, Jettainer. Meanwhile, another major player, Unilode, whose main business model is a shared economy concept of pooling, provides flexible access to containers and pallets in key Oman Air Cargo’s customised transport solutions for the fashion industry ensure that locations, scalable stock levels to garments and goods arrive on time and in perfect condition. High value fashion goods accommodate changes to their are secured in special Garment On Hanger containers and handled carefully. Because we network and aircraft fleet, and cost- understand the value of high fashion. saving opportunities. “We are enhancing our ULD management systems with an cargo.omanair.com automated and AI-driven software product to streamline the handling

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ware as a Service) products that gives busi- managing director, DoKaSch. DoKaSch’s nesses a 360-degree view of the customer Opticoolers offer direct delivery of the to offer quicker and better service. containers to the exporting pharma warehouses across Europe and the US. Catering to temperature- Adapting quickly to the rising number of controlled shipments short-notice requests and changes, the ULDs or containers for pharmaceuticals company has been able to accommodate and temperature-controlled shipments the needs of its clients in the current crisis were of high importance before the ongo- without any problems. ing pandemic and are even more relevant ACL Airshop is also planning a cool now.The pandemic has focused the need container market test in the Asia-Pacific for deploying assets in cargo networks The already high region, after the pandemic dissipates. “That that go beyond the norm, especially so, in advancement was put on hold when the high value industries like pharmaceuticals demand for our active crisis began hitting everywhere so hard,” and medical devices. ULD manufactur- revealed ACL Airshop’s Townes. ers and leasing companies are tapping Opticooler containers The current situation has provided this important market now. “The already has increased even new opportunities to a few carriers for high demand for our active Opticooler additional business in the pharma sector. containers has increased even further further during the “The Bluetooth tags installed in Unilode’s during the first quarter of 2020 compared containers and pallets can measure tem- to 2019. And there is another difference. first quarter of 2020 perature, in addition to providing data on Our containers were often transported compared to 2019 location, light, humidity and shock. The as belly freight in passenger planes. Due temperature-monitoring feature ensures Andreas Seitz to the breakdown of capacities world- DoKaSch that the carrier can keep track of the wide, pharma companies switched to use conditions of the shipment at all handling charter flights more often. These, however, like on a passenger airplane. It is a chal- stages, know to what temperatures the require more complex preparations due lenge to provide that kind of capacity at products have been exposed during to the fact that they often transport 30-40 short notice, but we are managing well the journey and take corrective actions Opticoolers at once instead of just a few thanks to reserves,” explains Andreas Seitz, if needed, which are all very important

8 | JUNE 2020 www.stattimes.com for the transport of pharmaceuticals,” innovation in their respective fields. We explained Unilode’s Dumont. Unilode also are pleased to be playing a key role where

AeroTUF offers new services such as disinfection of our technology allows Sonoco ThermoSafe ULDs if required by its customers. Unilode to go to market at a time where there is PHOTO: is a global repair partner for Envirotainer absolute focus on making sure bulk vol- and helps them ensure that their contain- umes of critical, life-saving pharmaceutical ers meet the strict requirements of the products get to where they are needed pharmaceutical industry. and arrive in compliant condition.” Meanwhile, AeroTUF has been working Another important player, SkyCell, in partnership with Sonoco ThermoSafe a designer of ‘smart containers’ which on the development and launch of their maintains constant conditions for drugs Pegasus ULD containers, which are a range that need to be kept at strict tempera- of passive temperature-controlled unit tures, humidity levels, and levels of vibra- load devices. These containers will be in- tion, to transport pharmaceuticals around tegrating AeroTUF’s patented AeroTHERM the globe on behalf of drug companies, composite material technology and will has been involved in helping to transport be the first passive bulk container that is supportive medications related to the also an approved unit load device. The first Covid-19 pandemic to different parts Pegasus ULD will be based on the AKP size, of the world. SkyCell had recently an- which fits a full US pallet and shares the nounced that it has raised $62 million in same footprint of the AKE sized units, with- growth funding. SkyCell had also revealed out the imbalanced overhang, that can that several of its customers are current account for around 80 percent of transit working on Covid-19 medications to ease damage to AKE / RKN containers. symptoms or potentially to vaccinate Pherson added, “Both Sonoco Ther- the virus. So, it may play a role in getting moSafe and AEROTUF are well known for drugs to where they need to be. 

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