Panalpina Quits Cargo 2000

Panalpina, the forwarding and logistics group, has decided to quit the
Cargo 2000 interest group, consisting of several airlines and forward
ing companies. Established within the international Air Transport Asso
ciation(IATA), Cargo 2000 was founded in 1997 with the aim of increasi
ng the efficiency of airfreight industry and-with this objective in mi
nd-of jointly developing and implementing processes and standards plus
a uniform data platform.
Over the past year, Cargo 2000 has been concentrating on developing a
comprehensive technical solution. In Panalpina’s opinion, however, no
further progress has been made with optimizing handling procedures, w
ith the barcoding project or with electronic data exchange. In March 2
000, moreover, the group is opening itself up to additional members.
“There’s a risk that further delays will occur and that we will have
to accept the lowest common denominator when defining and attaining o
bjectives.” says Robert Frei, COO and Director of Panalpina’s Air Di
vision.
According to Frei, Panalpina has taken a very active role in the work
shops right from the beginning and still supports both the agreed stan
dards and the Master Operating Plan (MOP)(the description of the fedef
inded handling process). “Thats’s why we now plan to implement eleme
nts of the MOP, such as Route Planning and Shipment Flow Control, in p
artnership with selected airlines at our own swift pace.” Robert Frei
stressed that Panalpina would itself be assuming responsibility for m
onitoring the standsrds-a task that does not require the involvement o
f a costly commercial organization. The choice of partner companies hi
nges on such quality criteria as optimizing of handling processes and
electronic information exchange.