e-AWB: Breaking free of the shackles

Accelerating e-AWB in 2016

2016 is the year for e-AWB, with a number of new initiatives which aim to drive e-AWB adoption. The target has been set at 56% penetration by end of year, up from the current collective penetration level of 37%. Several factors are shaping up to accelerate adoption, according to John DeBenedette, Managing Director, Worldwide Information Network (WIN). Additionally, the trend for handlers to create "fast lanes" for tendering cargo with electronic data available in advance can be a major driver, especially in markets facing infrastructure-bound congestion. “I am optimistic that in the age of so many technology-driven market disruptions, independents that are more nimble, but sometimes slow to jump in, are recognizing that their future depends on adopting the readily-available advanced solutions that larger firms struggle to embrace due to their legacy systems,” said DeBenedette.

e-AWB Challenges

However, huge challenges still remain. Many air cargo operators are still hampered by legacy technology providers entrenched in 40-year-old innovations, unable to break free of the shackles, according to DeBenedette. “Imagine the insanity of a world in which, you can watch a video from anywhere on the planet on your cell phone for free using the internet over lunch, but at your desk you are trying to figure out if you can pass an ampersand (&) in the name of a shipper in a short text file representing an AWB which cost a dollar to transmit to a partner across the airport property,” he said. “It is well past time for market forces and technology innovation to disrupt this crazy world.” There are a growing number of cloud-based logistics software providers moving well beyond the challenges of e-AWB and connecting the origin and destination logistics partners seamlessly using simple application programming interfaced (API) based web-services that leverage free and ubiquitous internet communications. “It is only a matter of time until this silly business in the middle with airline messaging is behind us,” said DeBenedette. Lars Wever, Documentation & Project Manager e-Freight at KLM Cargo, believes e-AWB adoption is at a tipping point as more airlines take the lead towards a paperless future.

e-AWB360 Initiative

The eAWB360 initiative, recently launched is designed to help airlines implement e-AWB through coordination with other partners. It is being embraced by industry and has already been enacted by 19 airlines. Twenty-one airports have also been selected by the industry to switch over to e-AWB as the preferred means of shipping air cargo. “These airlines are switching over to e-AWB by preference to all destinations by using the e-AWB Single Process,” said Wever. “We started with Amsterdam on the 1st of January this year and we saw the change - forwarders are contacting the airlines to go for e-AWB instead of airlines pushing the forwarders.” The coordinated approach, through the eAWB360 initiative, is bringing success to e-AWB adoption. Emirates SkyCargo was one of the first carriers to implement e-Freight in 2007, when IATA initiated the e-commerce concept for air cargo. Since then, the carrier has been 100% e-freight enabled, including e-AWB. More recently, in 2013, under the new industry standard IATA Resolution 672 (more commonly known as the “Multilateral e-AWB Agreement”), the company was again instrumental in drafting the resolution with the e-Airway Bill Advisory Group (e-AWBAG) and was one of the first carriers to sign and facilitate it. “This means customers can send and receive all necessary e-freight messages of any type and format and can communicate directly with us via email and file transfer protocol (FTP), and through any service provider of their choice,” said Henrik Ambak, Senior Vice President, Cargo Operations Worldwide. “The e-AWB has the potential to significantly increase productivity, for example, by freeing up manpower that can be redeployed for other essential operations.” “It can also play a key role in facilitating just-in-time freight as different stakeholders can analyze the electronic data simultaneously.” “On the environmental front, e-AWBs mean a lot less paper used, making it a much more environmentally-friendly process.”

e-AWB Pressures

Many feel the main pressure for e-AWB adoption is coming from carriers, which are increasingly charging fees for handling non e-AWB shipments. According to Christian Riege, Managing Director, Riege Software International GmbH, despite this growing pressure, major challenges to full e-AWB adoption remain. “The main barrier is connectivity, but equally hindering is that the process of creating and sending the e-AWB must be frictionless,” he said. “In an ideal world the user is never even confronted with a choice of whether to create one.” There should be a seamless flow when sending an e-AWB and not all the complexity that we come across. “If the forwarder adopts a software system that hides all of the complexity behind this and makes the whole process manageable and scalable there’s a lot of efficiency go be gained over today’s processes.”

e-AWB Constraints

Not all feel as positive about e-AWB take up momentum. Some forwarders feel like the march towards digital is being slowed throughout the air cargo supply chain by carriers that still use old, paper systems. Suwicha Boontem, Airport Operations Manager at Trans Air Cargo, said e-AWB is important for forwarders as it improves data exchange flow and saves costs, but take up was not as fast as many would like as a large number of carriers had not yet made the switch to ‘e’. “e-AWB is very important but the benefits are still not wholly realized by many in the industry,” he said. There are still a number of constraints which make e-AWB adoption more challenging, for example “some governments still require the paper documents and regulations vary from country to country.” Independent forwarders have little reason to switch to ‘e’ due to the costs of changing to a new system, and the fact that many carriers already have their own systems, which they are required to use, and which are not yet electronic, added Boontem. In order to achieve the industry e-AWB target by the end of the year, there must be some significant leaps forward in a number of markets, according to Glyn Hughes, IATA’s Global Head of Cargo. “Industry leaders have been instrumental in getting to the current collective penetration level of 37%,” he said. However, to get to and beyond the 50% mark will require many more companies, from across the supply chain, to “accelerate their implementation plans.” Even though the AWB may be just one document, industry should not underestimate the complexity involved in its removal, said Hughes.

e-AWB Collaboration

“It requires Customs, airlines, forwarders and ground handlers to all work collaboratively together. What is really encouraging is the uniform commitment to make air cargo better and removing the paper is a significant component of that ambition,” he concluded. The path is paved towards e-AWB adoption but much more collaboration and commitment is required to get rid of the paper AWB.