As technology simplifies and improves the other facets of our life, the air cargo industry can no longer afford to stay behind. A robust air freight management software might give you a kick start in the long journey of digitalization and automation of the industry that is inevitable.
6 reasons to invest in an air freight management software
With the unprecedented growth in the global air cargo services, it is inevitable that the industry keeps up with increasing volumes as well as fast-growing digitalization trends. Process and rules-driven tools and insights derived from air freight management software can only help to achieve unmatched improvement on sales and customer experience.
If you are still on the fence about implementing software to optimize, book, and track your shipments, this article will help you make your mind.
1) Digitalization is the way ahead
According to IATA, a shipment can generate up to 30 paper documents and many processes including track and trace still depend on human intervention.
While many enterprises have moved forward from these legacy paper systems to software-managed systems, the adoption rate is still low compared to the other industries.
Forward-looking carriers are leading the drive towards the industry’s digital transformation and have already made major overhauls in their systems. And large freight forwarders are closely following their example.
With the increasing number of players and stakeholders in the competitive market, the ones that do not upgrade their operations might be outplaced by those who do.
The benefits derived from the digitalization make a compelling business sense for the small and medium players to join the drive too.
2) Data-driven approach
In today’s data-driven economy, an enterprise that doesn’t utilize the high volume data for innovation by sticking to a legacy system is losing on huge opportunity costs .
The modern IT systems are enabled to provide rich features to reduce customer pain points and deliver innovative services. The data availability and quality of such data are key factors in these areas.
Real-time track and trace of shipments and data-driven insights that help enterprises make market-based decisions and customer-specific campaigns are all missed out with paper-based processes and legacy systems.
3) Improves productivity
An efficient air freight management software has rules-based processes that ensure the routine processes are regulated and automated and thereby saving time.
For instance, the GUI-based screens in Elliptia’s air freight management software enable the user to fill all the relevant information in a single screen, without having to switch back between screens.
Elliptia’s air freight management software also follows a logical workflow that has no redundant processes and oft repeated actions can be duplicated easily to save time. This ensures that the resources are not duplicated and performing at the optimum level.
4) User-friendly technology
Cost of implementation and the learning curve are two major bottlenecks when it comes to adopting new technologies in the logistics sector.
Devoid of options for affordable air freight management software, the adoption rate for such technologies is low especially among the small and medium scale shipping and forwarding enterprises.
Thankfully, the situation is now changing. Several SaaS companies including Elliptia offer flexible and affordable solutions customized for SMEs.
A user-friendly and simple air freight management software with an economical initial investment would encourage more small and medium-scale players to upgrade their systems.
5) Low margin of errors
The logistics industry is still heavily regulated and laden with paperwork. Using a legacy system where manual intervention is inevitable and often the only solution, can lead to a myriad of errors and inaccuracies.
In such a regulated industry, every error, however small that might be, can be highly penalized and the cost of letting the shipment wait for documentation at the customs is too high.
A strong air freight management software ensures there is a minimal scope of manual errors and consistent data validation checks throughout the data entry process. The lesser the scope of manual intervention, the fewer errors.
On-time approvals and zero margin for errors and inaccuracies can differentiate between two players in our highly competitive market.
6) Easy integration with other systems
Seamless integration between the two systems – namely, operations and accounting can help your business run like a well-oiled machine.
An efficient air freight management software will reduce the workload of your resources, remove any duplication of work and increase accounting accuracy. A single logical workflow would include:
- generating all the necessary documents,
- filing, printing and even sending these documents to the relevant parties,
- posting accounting entries using your accounting software, and
- building a report to help with business decisions.
Despite the initial costs, air freight management software comes in with a huge competitive advantage. And it can bring in the benefits of large scale operations without the hassles or overheads of running one.
