Less than five years ago, the idea of a “cargo community” at an airport was little more than an attempt by the various cargo executives to know everyone’s names up and down the supply chain. What each member of the supply chain did, however, was largely a mystery.
Today, all that has changed as more formalized communities are forming across the globe. Much of this cooperation was prompted by the need to increase quality control procedures for high-value cargo, such as pharmaceuticals. As more forwarders, carriers and ground handlers became certified in Good Distribution Practices (GDP) and IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV-Pharma), the various supply chain stakeholders began to formalize relationships with each other and schedule regular meetings to discuss improving efficiency.
The following five examples of airport cooperation helped pave the way to today’s cargo community trend, which has spread from Asia to Europe and is gaining momentum in North America.