The Cargo iQ Q Rally continues
The Quality Rally, or Q Rally as it is known, is an ongoing Cargo iQ initiative promoting collaboration and problem solving amongst our members to implement innovative solutions for the benefit of the air cargo industry.
The first stage of the Q Rally took place in November last year during the Cargo iQ Working Group in Budapest, Hungary, and, following its huge success, the second stage was completed during the recent Working Group in Prague, Czechia.
Representatives from Panalpina and Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, were crowned winners of the second stage after working together to improve the rate of successful provision and receipt of arrival messages from incoming flights.
Marie Seco-Köppen, Corporate Air Freight Systems and Processes Integration Manager at Panalpina, and Bram Snel, Operations Research Consultant at Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, formed a team to focus on data from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), Eindhoven Airport (EIN), and Johannesburg – OR Tambo International Airport.
The duo started working on the improvements before the first stage of the Q Rally and have already improved the quality of arrival messages (ARR) from 70 percent to 85 percent.
“Since the start of our improvement initiative, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has made many improvements as a result of our joint analysis and, with sustained efforts, we are on target to achieve the overall 98 percent rate,” explained Seco-Köppen.
“One action that had to be taken on the Panalpina side was that Panalpina Netherlands had to change a process in a system because Air France KLM Martinair Cargo was sending updates for JNB perfectly well, but it was not visible.”
The positive results from the second Q Rally were directly related to the initial investigation carried out by Seco-Köppen and Snel in the first stage of the initiative, which highlights the benefits of collaboration.
“On the Air France KLM Martinair Cargo side, the solution to the problem was to review the entire process and implement training for our staff at AMS and EIN to ensure they were correctly submitting the arrival messages,” said Snel.
“This was very surprising because we expected to implement something quite complex, but instead it involved simple changes, which is a good thing.”
Seco-Köppen added that the two teams have regular calls for a “deep dive” into the data and to share reports.
“We are involved in this initiative because we want to improve our data so that we can provide a higher quality of service to our customers,” said Seco-Köppen.
“By participating in the Cargo iQ Q Rally, we help to raise awareness about the importance of working together to improve standards and processes in the air cargo supply chain.”
Seco-Köppen and Snel will work together again to complete the third stage of the Q Rally that will take place in Asia, and Snel is positive about the initiative having a continued impact on improving quality standards in air cargo.
“Taking part in the Q Rally has helped us to realise that our work matters,” added Snel.
“I used to take our work at Air France KLM Martinair Cargo for granted, but by working with Panalpina in the Q Rally, I have realised the impact that we have, and I am looking forward to continuing to work on this project.”
The winners of the first stage of the Q Rally were Panalpina and Cargolux, who worked together to successfully improve the Freight Waybill (FWB) performance at Luxembourg Airport.