The two technology leaders cargo.one and IBS Software officially announced their strategic partnership to empower airlines on their digital transformation to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.

The companies have been working together to create custom integrations for leading airlines, including Etihad Cargo and Nippon Cargo Airlines, to successfully help them to further develop their digital distribution capabilities. In 2020, cargo.one has already displayed hundreds of thousands of bookable offers for airlines running IBS iCargo, without the use of a standardized plug and play solution.

With the first plug and play booking for All Nippon Airways on cargo.one last week, cargo.one pioneers the implementation of the new iCargo Sales Platform which represents an industry-first standard integration for airlines running IBS’s iCargo software. The partners, IBS Software and cargo.one ‘walk the talk’ of digitalization by delivering real results for their airline partner and cargo.one’s extensively growing user base of freight forwarders.

As COVID-19 urges airlines and forwarder sales teams to adapt to a new normal, cargo.one reports a record increase in usage and demand. The platform now serves about 1,500 freight forwarder branches, located across key European markets. This customer base represents a significant growth of 425% compared to last year.

Moritz Claussen, Founder and Managing Director of cargo.one says: “We see that COVID-19 has been a catalyst for digital transformation within the air cargo industry. This is reflected in the now 1,500 forwarder branches using cargo.one on a daily basis.

Furthermore, we see that distributing capacity online at live rates is an essential part of the recovery roadmap for many airlines. Together with IBS Software we have been building a proven plug and play solution that empowers all IBS airlines to seamlessly integrate with cargo.one and get access to our ever-growing user base. Allowing airlines to boost sales online and almost instantly relieve overloaded sales staff.”

The seamless access and proven integration technology to the platform via the IBS iCargo Sales Platform will help the 30+ IBS airline customers to quickly use ‘out of the box’ services, without the need for major system changes. This helps airlines develop digital distribution capabilities which is a game changer for the industry.

“We truly believe that leveraging online distribution is the way forward for airlines to emerge faster and stronger from the crisis and we are excited to enable these connections with innovation leader cargo.one and our state of the art technology. It is heartening to see how both companies have worked together in these challenging circumstances to deliver innovative capabilities that will help the industry. We have moved further in our broader goal of creating a “digital ecosystem” by collaborating with complimenting services, to bring greater value to customers using iCargo. I am excited as we will see digitalization accelerating further over the next months through our joint efforts.” concludes Ashok Rajan, SVP & Head of Cargo & Logistics, IBS Software.

The international logistics provider GEODIS is ensuring the safe transport of the cargo from China to Germany. The Freight Forwarding unit of GEODIS in Germany won this major contract of 275 tons in a public tender from the German Government. Around 50,000 boxes of gloves will be transported in five shipments from Chengdu, in the Chinese province of Sichuan, to Frankfurt and Nuremberg by Airfreight and Rail.

The air and rail transportation solution, which GEODIS developed in close cooperation with all partners, includes the continuous monitoring of the shipments.

Employees of the Chinese supplier watch over the dispatching and loading of the containers at the Sichuan Medicines & Health Products I./E. Corporation’s production facilities in Shendong, where the certified goods are manufactured.

The GEODIS teams in China and Europe monitor transport from Chengdu to the destinations in Germany. So-called GEOtags are used for the containers, which enable live tracking via GPS.

The first airfreight shipment from Chengdu Airport to Frankfurt took place on May 19. This first partial delivery consisted of 2.5 million disposable gloves, packed in 2,500 boxes weighing almost 15 tons. In Frankfurt, GEODIS employees packed the goods on 40 pallets, cleared customs and prepared them for collection.

The first of the four shipments by rail departed from Chengdu to Nuremberg on May 21. Loaded in 40-foot containers, 9,000 boxes with around nine million gloves arrived last weekend.

Four more containers left Chengdu on May 28 and June 4. New ones will follow on June 18, and 25. The final shipment is planned to arrive in Nuremberg on July 11.

With its combined transport solution, GEODIS guarantees maximum flexibility in order to be able to react quickly to changes in the supply chain.

The international law firm Berg & Moll, which is specialized in projects for the Belt and Road Initiative, is responsible for contract execution and project monitoring.

The transport of medical protective clothing currently involves high risks. Reduced transport capacities, short-term cancellations or changes in modes of transport, strict quality controls and purchasers who do everything they can to intercept goods while they are in transit make the whole process difficult. Claudia von Selle, partner at Berg & Moll, praised the effective teamwork: “Thanks to the great commitment of our Chinese partner and the GEODIS teams in China and Europe, all hurdles were quickly overcome.”

In Germany, the team around Antje Lochmann, Managing Director of GEODIS Freight Forwarding Germany, is coordinating all the activities involved in the contract.

“As a response to the new requirements and demands, GEODIS has developed a dedicated concept for transportation of medical protective clothing, and we are particularly pleased to be able to support the German Government with this know-how.”

Drone Delivery Canada Corp is pleased to announce that with the assistance of Air Canada and the Pontiac Group, it has entered into a commercial agreement with The David McAntony Gibson Foundation o/a GlobalMedic to deploy DDC’s patented drone delivery solution to provide service to the Beausoleil First Nation Community in Ontario. Funding for the project was received by donors, including from OEC Group, a leading global logistics provider servicing clients in all major industries including aerospace, healthcare, global retail, automotive and manufacturing.

Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, DDC will enable a defined two-way delivery flight route from/to BFN mainland to/from the BFN Christian Island utilizing the Sparrow drone and its DroneSpot^TM takeoff and landing zones as well as additional drone flight infrastructure as required.

All operations will be conducted in accordance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations and Transport Canada flight authorizations. Flights will be remotely monitored by DDC from its new commercial operations centre located in Vaughan, Ontario. DDC will commence deployment of site infrastructure shortly and expects to begin providing drone delivery services under the Agreement in Q3 of 2020.

BFN will use DDC’s Sparrow drone solution to limit person-to-person contact on its island ferry service by transporting COVID-19 related cargo such as personal protection equipment (PPE), hygiene kits, test kits, test swabs, etc.

The Agreement provides for the payment of an up-front, fixed-fee for managed services for the project.  The term of the Agreement is six months.

“We are pleased to announce GlobalMedic as another paid commercial drone logistics customer.  The Beausoleil First Nation community will benefit from our drone delivery solution during the COVID-19 pandemic by limiting person-to-person contact between the mainland and Christian Island, while keeping their supply chain open.  Our solution is ideal for this application and we look forward to seeing the benefits for the Community,” said Michael Zahra, President & CEO of DDC.  “To our knowledge this is the first announced COVID-19 related drone logistics project working with a humanitarian aid agency in Canada.  We are grateful to GlobalMedic, OEC Group and other generous donors for their sincere concern for First Nations communities, involvement in this project and embracing our drone technology as a solution.”

“GlobalMedic is proud to be part of this program using drones to deliver desperately needed aid to an isolated First Nations Community. Through consultation with the Community we understand that supply chain issues exist and have been exacerbated by COVID19. We are excited to use drones as part of the solution to overcome these challenges. We have a well-known history of using drones to respond to crisis zones having deployed our drone teams to dozens of countries using our award winning RescUAV program. We thank the OEC group and other donors to help fund this project and look forward to seeing DDC drones in the air delivering lifesaving aid to our friends in Beausoleil First Nation,” said Rahul Singh, Executive Director at GlobalMedic.

“DDC and OEC have been looking for an opportunity to partner. When the chance popped up to help the Beausoleil First Nation community, it was an easy decision to make,” said Landon Bibeau, CMO of the OEC Group. “The community is in a remote area where medical resources and services are limited. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic where human to human contact is sometimes difficult. We are truly grateful to be part of this project and look forward to bringing essential goods to the Beausoleil First Nation.”