ABX Logistics joins Cargo 2000

ABX LOGISTICS Worldwide, one of Europe's 10 leading transport and logistics groups, has become a full member of Cargo 2000.

The addition of another major freight forwarding and logistics organization to its membership re-emphasizes the importance of Cargo 2000's ongoing program to improve the reliability and predictability of air cargo for shippers, enhance customer service and reduce costs for all participants.

Laurent Levaux, Chief Executive Officer of ABX LOGISTICS Worldwide, said: "As a global industry leader, ABX LOGISTICS is pleased now to be part of this significant venture along with other major industry players. We are excited to play a role in shaping industry standards. This will allow us to offer our customers greater transparency and precision, thanks to simpler, more harmonized procedures. We are happy to encourage all efforts to enhance the quality of the services delivered to our customers."

Cargo 2000 is the air cargo industry's response to customers' demands for sustained service quality and accountability. It is a powerful partnership of many of the world's leading airlines, freight forwarders, logistics organisations and associated suppliers with the unique goal of implementing world class standards across the air cargo supply chain. Singapore Airlines and ground partner, Aviapartner Cargo, have also recently joined Cargo 2000.

Ron Cesana, Project Director of Cargo 2000, said: "We are delighted to welcome ABX LOGISTICS into Cargo 2000. The company clearly understands the importance of standardization and the additional value our quality system can bring to its business in terms of revenue growth opportunities, client retention and reduced operating costs. ABX LOGISTICS has told us that its customers have been asking about Cargo 2000 and this has prompted its decision to become an active participant in our program."

Based on detailed customer research and with the assistance of leading IT companies, Cargo 2000 has re-engineered the air cargo transportation process from shipper to consignee through the creation of a 'Master Operating Plan.' This sits at the heart of an industry-wide process control and reporting system that in turn drives data management and corrective action systems.

By reducing the number of individual processes in the air cargo supply chain from 40 to just 19, Cargo 2000 is less labor intensive and improves the processes for managing shipments in a paperless environment. It substantially reduces time spent managing irregularities, such as service failures, cuts the time required for manual track and trace procedures and leads to a reduction is service recovery costs.

Cargo 2000's quality management system is being implemented in three distinct phases. The key to the group's Master Operating Plan is the creation of a unique 'route map' for individual shipments that is monitored and measured throughout the delivery cycle of each shipment.

Phase 1 manages Airport to Airport movements - shipment planning & tracking at Master air waybill level. Once a booking is made, a plan is automatically created with a series of checkpoints against which the transportation of every air cargo shipment is managed and measured. This enables the system to alert Cargo 2000 members to any exceptions to the plan, allowing them to respond pro-actively to fulfil their customers' expectations.

Phase 2 is responsible for shipment planning and tracking at House air waybill level and provides interactive monitoring of the door-to-door movement. The third and final phase of Cargo 2000 manages shipment planning and tracking at individual piece level plus document tracking. This provides for real-time management of the transportation channel at piece level. It will also control the flow of information which will be vital for current and future security requirements.

Cargo 2000 members are now certified at more than 300 locations worldwide. One or more members are measuring service performance in accordance with Cargo 2000's quality