Cargo iQ has successfully trialled a new Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Solution to provide vastly improved planning and control options to small and medium sized forwarders who work with member airlines on a small-scale, or regional basis.

The SME Solution will enable a Route Map and status updates to be made available to the forwarder for individual consignments in line with the common business practices and milestones set out in Cargo iQ's Master Operating Plan (MOP).

Cargo iQ members developed the MOP as a system of clearly defined common business processes.

"With Cargo iQ SME, we provide a turn-key solution for independent freight forwarders to benefit from shipment planning and control through shared Route Maps and operational visibility for various milestones along the shipment lifecycle," said Chris Davies, Manager Product and Technology, at Cargo iQ.

"Cargo iQ's members work together to continuously improve the value of airfreight for customers, and, by expanding our Solutions Portfolio, we are opening the door to a wider section of the air cargo industry."

After registering with an accredited Cargo iQ SME IT Service Provider, forwarders can benefit from Cargo iQ performance management tools straight away.

The SME Solution trial started with CCS Italy, using Riege Software's back-end Cargo Data Management Platform (CDMP) technology.

CCS Italy specialises in innovative, value-added IT solutions for freight forwarders, air cargo carriers, and ground handling agents.

"Taking part in Cargo iQ's SME Solution trial is a great opportunity for CCS Italy to demonstrate how independent freight forwarders can work with air cargo carriers to benefit the overall air cargo industry," said Gianni Mauri, Senior Consultant, CCS Italy.

Riege Software specialises in Cloud-based software solutions for the cargo industry.

"We always put our focus on scalability, to serve customers from the smallest to the largest on the same high technological level," said Christian Riege, Managing Director, Riege Software.

"To expand this approach to IATA's Cargo iQ initiative targeting SMEs was an extra stimulus - with the awesome outcome of facilitating SMEs access to Cargo iQ."

An official launch date for SME will be announced in the coming months, following an evaluation of the trial phase.

Forwarders that join the SME portal will also have the option to apply for full Cargo iQ membership to benefit from additional performance reporting, benchmarking, collaboration, and insights.

"Upgrading allows smaller freight forwarders to put the Cargo iQ stamp of approval next to their names after a vigorous audit and certification program, and provides access to other tools, such as our member-only Door-to-Door Performance Management System," said Davies.

The Door-to-Door (D2D) Solution allows Cargo iQ members to measure the movement of freight from shipper to consignee, and has also been developed based on the MOP.

D2D provides implementable business rules and use cases to track and measure shipments, operational visibility in real time on an individual House Air Waybill (HAWB) basis, as well as comprehensive metrics on pick-up and delivery performance.

All route map data for D2D is provided by Cargo iQ to generate analytics, which is then reported to members in Cargo iQ's Air Cargo Intelligence Hub.

Contributed by Cargo iQ