ASEAN towards a Global Halal Logistics through the Digitally-Enabled Community

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is leading the development of global halal trade and has the opportunity to become a leader in the global halal supply chain, especially in global halal logistics. Given the push towards digital transformation in creating a halal ecosystem and regarding the agenda of ASEAN towards a digitally-enabled economy, this study wants to examine whether ASEAN digitally-enabled community is correlated with ASEAN's chances of becoming a global halal logistics. Through a correlation test, it is found that there is a statistically significant relationship between ASEAN digitally-enabled community, as measured in internet subscribers/users per 100 persons and cellular/mobile phone per 100 persons, and the opportunity for ASEAN to become a global halal logistics, measured in ASEAN GDP, total air cargo, total trade in goods, and international air passenger traffic. This is probably the first study that preliminarily confirms digitally-enabled community is very important to strengthen ASEAN's opportunities to become the global halal logistics.

Evaluating Freight Forwarders in the Air Cargo Industry

Freight forwarders are of great importance in the air cargo industry. As the cargo revenue constitutes an important source for airline companies, the evaluation of freight forwarders is vital for airlines’ success. This study employs DEMATEL method in order to prioritize the determined criteria for evaluating freight forwarders from the point of view of an airline. The calculated importance weights are used in an illustrative problem where the ranking of freight forwarders are obtained by employing the simple additive weighting method.

Design and Analysis of VTOL Operated Intercity Electrical Vehicle for Urban Air Mobility

This paper discusses the conceptual design of an intercity electrical vertical take-off-and-landing aircraft. A literature survey of existing eVTOL aircrafts, configuration selection, initial sizing, weight estimation, modelling and analysis was conducted. The present intercity eVTOL aircraft has the capability to carry four passengers along with one pilot for a distance of 500 km. Two specific aircraft modes, such as air-taxi and air-cargo mode, are considered in the present design. Market entry is predicted before 2031. Subsequently, innovative technologies are incorporated into the design. The present design features an aerodynamically shaped fuselage, tapered wing and a V-tail design. It can carry a nominal payload of 500 kg to a maximum range of 500 km at a cruise speed of Mach 0.168. The present eVTOL is comprised of a 5 m-long fuselage and an 11 m wingspan. It utilizes six tilt-rotor propeller engines. The maximum take-off weight and empty weight are 1755 kg and 1255 kg, respectively. The unit price is expected to be between USD 14.83 and 17.36 million. This aircraft has an aesthetically pleasing, intelligent and feasible design.

PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS OF ROBOTIC DELIVERY OF THE LAST MILE. THE RELEVANCE OF THE PROBLEM AND THE CONCEPT OF THE SOLUTION. PART I.

The express delivery market in recent years has been growing at the level of 3-4%, and even in these conditions, not only is it not saturated, but the demand for it is growing. According to Oxford Economics, the growth of the air cargo market, which determines the volume of the express delivery market, accelerated at times up to 7% per year from 2013 to 2018 [1]. The biggest changes took place in 2016-17 due to a technological breakthrough in the field of logistics with the introduction of services such as drone delivery, processing orders on the blockchain, calculation of the delivery mode using artificial intelligence, etc. It was expected that due to the growing demand on fast delivery guaranteed, the number of express delivery employees worldwide will grow to 4.5 million over the next few years. But the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this process. In the study “The Future of Freight Transportation. How new technologies and new thinking can change the movement of goods”, presented by the international network of consulting companies Deloitte in 2017, states that carriers have already solved many of the problems associated with the transportation of goods. But the “last mile delivery” stage has remained limiting the development of the delivery service. At this stage, companies suffer losses due to the concentration of logistics, algorithmic and kinematic tasks that cannot be automated with modern means and technologies for replacing human labor. Consequently, the use of alternative, unconventional technologies at this stage is a key condition for the mass development of delivery.

Covid-19 and ISO9001 practices in air cargo transportation

Air cargo transportation in international trade stands out with its speed, reliability, safety, interaction with other transportation types, intensive use of information technologies, and global standards. During the Covid-19 pandemic, various negativities have emerged in air cargo transportation, as in many sectors. In this study, the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in air cargo transportation business processes are evaluated within the scope of the ISO9001 Quality Management System standard so that they do not adversely affect the service quality. In this context, a case study was conducted on the implementation of the ISO 9001 Quality Management System standard in dealing with the difficulties arising from the pandemic in the cargo operations of an air transportation company. As a result of the implementation, the cargo ecosystem has been expanded, the carrying capacity has been increased, and the storage and cargo transportation efficiency has been increased by making use of information and communication technologies. Thus, it was easier to overcome the difficulties arising from the pandemic in the business processes of the company, and it was seen that sustainability in line with commercial expectations was ensured by rising to fifth place in world air cargo transportation in 2020.

Achieving Excellence for California’s Freight System: Developing Competitiveness and Performance Metrics; Incorporating Sustainability, Resilience, and Workforce Development

This study explores the question of whether California's freight system is staying competitive with other US regions. A novel analytical framework compares supply chain performance metrics across multiple US states and regions for seaports, airports, highways, freight rail service, and distribution centers by combining the Performance Evaluation Matrix (PEM), Competitive Position Matrix (CPM), and Business Process Management (BPM) approaches. Analysis of industry data and responses from structured interviews with 30 freight industry experts across 5 transportation sectors suggests that California's freight system is competitive for seaports, airports, and freight rail; however, highways and distribution centers have room for improvement with respect to travel time reliability and operation costs, and California should prioritize infrastructure investments here. To stay competitive with the Texas and North East regions, state investments could also expand seaport container terminals and air cargo handling facilities, improve intermodal port connections and management of flows of chassis, container trucks, empty containers to ameliorate cargo backlogs and congestion on highways, at the ports, and at warehouses. The state could also invest in inland ports, transporting goods by rail directly from seaports to the Inland Empire or Central Valley.