Cargo 2000 Debuts At JFK

     On October 4th, a landmark business meeting took place in the air cargo area of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, as thirty-nine people including twenty-three representative Cargo 2000 members met to create the newest airport-based Cargo 2000 Association.
     "What’s the big deal?" you might ask?
     Well, of all the airports in the U.S. operating international services, JFK is far and away the big enchilada.
     From Dubai to Helsinki to Shanghai to Mumbai, JFK International Airport serves more overseas destinations than any other airport in the Western Hemisphere.
     Cargo 2000 is a global organization, an IATA Interest Group, bringing together some 40 major airlines, freight forwarders, IT providers and ground-handling agents with the goal of implementing a new quality management system for the worldwide air cargo industry.
     The objective is simple: to implement processes, backed by quality standards, that are measurable and supported by data, thereby improving the efficiency of air cargo, enhancing customer service levels and reducing operational costs.
     Based on detailed customer research and with the assistance of leading IT companies, the group has re-engineered the transportation process from shipper to consignee through a "Master Operating Plan". This Master Operating Plan is at the heart of an industry-wide process control and reporting system that in turn drives the corrective action systems.
     Bringing the brilliance, hard work and dedication of Cargo 2000 to the local level to create an airport coordinating organization, is a logical next step in the service enhancement scheme.
     But theory to reality can be a long journey; so landing a local Cargo 2000 Association at JFK is indeed a big deal.
FlyingTypers spoke to Cargo 2000 Project Director Ron Cesana who said simply:
     “The best is yet to come.
     “Our mission is to elevate efficiency of the air cargo industry, improve customer service and reduce costs by developing and implementing a program of business processes and automation standards.
     “Local Cargo 2000 Associations will adopt the same objective, but are also specifically asked to focus on implementation of C2K requirements at the local level.
     “Some other objectives in the local Cargo 2000 Association mandate include addressing issues and obstacles that are specific to each gateway situation.
     “Utilizing hands-on local expertise in the Cargo 2000 atmosphere empowers local groups to identify ways and means to improve local procedures to standardize and streamline operations, saving time while reducing costs all around.
     “Cargo 2000 is moving to facilitate e-commerce / e-business locally, thereby reducing paperwork.
     “Local Cargo 2000 Associations can identify "best-known-methods "and share with other C2K working groups, while acting to facilitate and implement tasks presented by C2K global project management.”
     So JFK cargo executives got together, agreed to formulate a future based on some new working guidelines.
Barry Medved (left) of KLM Cargo was elected Chairman of JFK Cargo 2000 Association with Neal O’Sullivan of DHL Danzas elected to serve as the first Vice Chairman of the group.
     January 25, 2006 was set as the next meeting date.
     Best of all to report is that this first gathering was better than just a good meeting.
     Here a new spirit was palpable with participants who were outwardly eager to build the new Association by actively contributing to the project.
     This Cargo 2000 Association at JFK will not be a closed-door, exclusive, “members only” affair either.
     To the credit of some hard working community minded air cargo people, the group plans to invite non-members, and companies involved in the air cargo process into the Association meeting mix.
     As example, The Port Authority of New York& New Jersey was invited and attended the first gathering.
     The upshot of that initiative was tacit agreement to continue ongoing dialogue between the agency and Cargo 2000 Association at JFK.
     Ron Cesana points to other local Cargo 2000 Associations
     “We have active local associations at the following gateways in Europe including FRA and PAR.
     “In North America there are now Cargo 2000 Associations at JFK, LAX, MIA, ORD and YYZ and in Asia, Cargo 2000 Association meets regularly at HK.
     “Cargo 2000 is at work establishing new groups at AMS, ATL, BRU and DFW and will continue adding other cities worldwide during 2006.
     “It is worth repeating that the air cargo industry has little or no data. “There is nothing out there to tell us how well or badly we are doing.
     “Is the industry performing better than last year?
     “Are we better than we were five years ago?
     “This is the first time in the air cargo industry that a group of airlines, forwarders, ground handling agents, IT providers and truckers have gathered locally to discuss performance with data.
     “Best of all in the Cargo 2000 atmosphere, data is produced in the exact same format everywhere in the world because of the standards that we have either created or adopted.
     “We have emphasized at local meetings that members need to work in a collaborative mode rather than 'finger pointing' and 'blaming others'.
     “Together we can improve performance adopting a systematic quality approach based on data.”
(Geoffrey Arend)