Ground breaking air cargo logistics portal now available across the GCC

Calogi is a self service web based portal designed to serve the information processing needs of the local supply chain community.

Aimed at simplifying the air cargo business, Calogi enables local supply chain stakeholders to seamlessly interact with each other. Information is entered once by the originator and used throughout the shipment lifecycle.

The system was released in stages to the Dubai community from July 2008 onwards and has been so successful that more than 45% of all air cargo transactions (import and export) between the Dubai air cargo industry players and the seven FreightGate air cargo facilities operated by Dnata in Dubai, are conducted on Calogi.

The number of subscribers and transactions is still increasing dramatically as news of the revolutionary system spreads.

Calogi is being rolled out to a wider community and www.calogi.com, the Calogi homepage, is now available for access across the GCC.

Patrick Murray, Head of Calogi said, "What makes Calogi different from other community portals is that it has been developed with the small to medium sized agents and airlines in mind. Having said that Calogi's local functionality also makes it a very attractive solution for the bigger players in our industry."

"Looking at the fast growing customer base in Dubai, I am confident that we have created an innovative and unique solution which fully supports our industry's aim for full e-freight compliance. We invite industry stakeholders to take a closer look at the Calogi model we have created in Dubai and which we are now keen to share with other GCC air cargo communities," Murray added.

"Because of our focus on small to medium sized agents and airlines, Calogi also ensures a level playing field for all stakeholders, something we believe can only be to the benefit of our industry. Membership fees have been kept deliberately low and will not be an entry barrier to even the smallest players in the supply chain," he said.

"We will continue to enhance Calogi in terms of functionality over the coming months," added Murray. "However, even as it stands today, I am confident we have a world class product, the like of which our industry has not seen before. I urge everyone involved in the logistics supply chain to give it a try and see what a difference it can make to their business."

The roll out plan will initially target the U.A.E. and will be completed within the next nine months. The remaining GCC countries will have access soon thereafter.

Murray added, "Calogi is not just a supply chain logistics solution, but a change management programme which will improve the speed at which our industry conducts business. The seven Dnata FreightGate cargo facilities in Dubai have also benefitted from increased levels of agent automation and by a reduction in their workloads and improved efficiency."

"As a direct result, Dnata Cargo has achieved significant financial savings which are being shared with the Calogi forwarding community. At a time when industry costs are under the microscope, the forwarding community in Dubai has already saved more than Dhs3.5m as a direct result of subscribing to Calogi and the local incentives it offers," he concluded.

In addition to facilitating paper free e-business transactions, the Calogi portal also offers visitors easy access to industry contacts, statistics and IATA, ACI and Cargo 2000 reports, in addition to a 'Track and Trace' facility which provides customers with a free and up-to-the-minute status report on shipments with more than 60 airlines worldwide.