Industry experts are warning Kiwi air cargo forwarders to move forward and embrace better technology or e-commerce customers such as Amazon and Alibaba will develop their own and bypass the sector entirely.
The logistics industry needs to capitalise on the needs of the international e-commerce industry according to two speakers at the 20th annual conference of the Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation (CBAFF).
Both speakers are warning the domestic and global air cargo industry to work together to develop suitable solutions.
Global Head of Cargo for the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Glyn Hughes says passenger industry technology had dramatically outstripped air cargo technology, which is still largely paper-based.
“Our industry needs to work more collaboratively and come up with collective solutions. If not, other players will come in with disruptive technology and disruptive solutions,” says Hughes.
A developer of cloud-based software solutions for the international and domestic logistics industry, WiseTech says many freight forwarders are still using ‘coloured folder’ based processes, and 75% of the top 100 global freight forwarders are operating core systems relying on decades-old legacy technology.
“More needs doing with the technology you drive your companies with,” says WiseTech chief executive Richard White.
“We need to assist freight forwarders in accessing the best most integrated core platforms that enable the execution, virtualisation, and visualisation of all stages of logistics,” says White.
“And we need universal principles and understanding,” he says.
