Panalpina is preparing for the worldwide introduction of a new customer portal that will give clients instant access to air cargo pricing and let them book ad hoc shipments at any time. The platform is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of 2018.
“In today’s highly volatile market environment, our automated platform allows us to respond very quickly to customer inquiries by providing competitive rates as well as cargo capacity either through our charter network or best-in-class partner carriers,” said Lucas Kuehner, the company’s global head of air freight.
The centralized platform provides on-the-spot quotes based on fully automated rate calculations utilizing online databases for available prices.
“Today anyone can easily set up an appealing front-end tool for freight quotation or booking. The key question to ask is: What happens on the back end when a query is triggered? In our case, sophisticated algorithms immediately scan the industry’s most comprehensive online databases, without manual intervention, to calculate the best freight rates and options for our customers,” says chief information officer Ralf Morawietz.
Rates cover door-to-door moves, including pre- and on-carriage.
According to Panalpina, the entire quotation and booking process can be performed instantaneously with just a few mouse clicks.
At this point, the portal only covers ad hoc shipments of general cargo. Freight that requires special handling, such as out-of-gauge shipments, still has to be booked by phone or e-mail, but management has signalled that it intends to extend the automatic capability to a larger part of its product portfolio. It also intends to hook up the platform to airlines that are putting their pricing information and booking functionality online.
The platform, which has undergone successful trials with several large customers in recent months, is part of a broader move to replace the logistics provider’s customer-facing IT infrastructure. Panalpina CEO Stefan Karlen described the portal as the major piece in a process that is going to change the way how the logistics firm deals with its clients. It aims to create an end-to-end digital environment for this interaction.
“Our new customer portal is the centrepiece of Panalpina’s technology transformation and one that will greatly impact how we, and likely others in the industry, will interact with customers in the future,” he declared.
Technology-based forwarders and freight pricing platforms like Freightos, which has automated pricing for several logistics firms, have blamed the industry for its slow adoption of online pricing and automation of the quotation process. According to Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber, in response to volatile market conditions shippers have increasingly expanded the portion of their traffic that is booked ad hoc and diminished the use of allocations under long-term contracts. They look for fast and easily accessible price information, he said.
Freightos has implemented dynamic pricing capability at Air France KLM Cargo and Schreiber recently revealed that his firm has been in talks with several other airlines about moving in that direction.
Many forwarders remain sceptical about the merits of automating the quotation process. Rodair International has leveraged technology to improve its interaction with customers, but CEO Jeff Cullen is not looking to put rates online.
“I’m not sure where the multinationals are going with this,” he said, adding that online pricing would appeal mostly to shippers who want to shop for rates online.
“This is where it becomes commoditized, and that’s not our sweet spot,” he said. Rather than try to gain ad hoc business through a lower price, Rodair looks to use technology to facilitate processes for clients and deepen integration, which makes pricing less relevant in the selection of a logistics provider, he said.
By Ian Putzger
Air Freight Correspondent | Toronto