As we transition from August into September, preparations for the annual conference move into high gear. The conference will therefore be the main theme of this newsletter.

Firstly, we are very pleased to announce some changes to our membership: Gita Aviation will, after a few years of absence, rejoin ULD CARE. We also have new member HPL Apollo, Hactl, Omniscient, SkyCell, Sharp Aviation K, Diatom Aviation LLC, and, on the airline side, Alaska Airlines. There are also a couple more in the works that we hope to announce before the conference. It is always very encouraging to see new faces joining our community.

Now, turning to the conference.

Thanks to the feedback we received from last year’s event, this year we have put together two days’ worth of workshops, panels and presentations. To ensure variety and keep the pace dynamic, all sessions, except for the workshops, are no longer than 60 minutes and many are shorter.

Turning to the workshops, this is in specific response to feedback that our members want more interactivity. We will therefore be having three workshops during which we hope to see a great deal of interactive discussion.

Innovation

We don’t think anybody can question that innovation has to be front and centre of our industry, otherwise it will wither and die. And reflecting back on multiple decades in the world of ULD, we think the industry has made some very remarkable innovations that we can be justifiably proud of. But on the other hand, the industry cannot afford to sit still. This is where we believe that ULD CARE has a role to play in facilitating the innovation discussion. We are delighted that our old friend Henrik Ambak, now retired from his prior role as SVP Cargo Operations Emirates SkyCargo, has agreed to moderate this session, as he has an extraordinary amount of experience in this industry.

Repair and Maintenance

All around the world, 24/7 damaged containers, pallets, nets and fire covers are being repaired. Often out of sight and out of mind, these facilities provide an essential service without which airlines would rapidly run into difficulties. Yet these organisations face many challenges. Some are external, such as the cost of labour, and some are more internal to our industry such as the challenge of managing all the technical documentation required to maintain aviation approvals. In this workshop, we want to bring together the various stakeholders – not just the repair shops but also the airline/owners of the equipment and the manufacturers of the equipment to facilitate a collaborative discussion addressing these issues.

Sustainability

The ULD industry can be justifiably proud of its achievements over the past few decades, particularly with its success in reducing the tare weight of many of the products, saving the airline industry billions of dollars in fuel burn and, of course, reduced carbon emissions. But when it comes to sustainability, enough is never enough. We must keep going and the ULD CARE community has been working extremely hard under the guidance of Louise Platell to develop a ULD Climate Impact Label. The working group will meet in this workshop to the finish the first stage of this project. Of course, all members of the ULD CARE community are welcome to take part in these discussions and learn more about this exciting project.

Turning to the plenary section of the conference which will cover 2 half day sessions before and after the workshops. We have assembled a program that we believe will keep everybody engaged.

The multimodal role of ULD- a double-edged sword

ULDigital-E-UCR/IULDUG/RFID

ULD CARE: Vision and Mission and how to get there

ULD CARE can proudly point to a long history of representing the interests of the ULD community. During this session, we will focus on our vision and mission statements, with a focus on the future role for ULD CARE in the industry.

Delivering safe ULD across the whole supply chain

AI meets ULD-what happens next?

In case anybody has not noticed, AI is everywhere these days. Hopefully many of our delegates have at least some experience in working with this exciting new tool. We would ignore AI at our risk, as future gains in productivity and efficiency will undoubtedly be achieved through its application. How will this affect the ULD world?

Training

As safety training is one of our staple discussion points at any conference, we are, once again, delighted to have Airport College, our training partners, with us. During the last few months, we have jointly worked on developing two new ULD 60 Seconds presentations, on FCC and FRC, both of which are rapidly gaining more exposure, as well as covering the collaboration between Airport College and Unilode in joint training activities.

Smart Warehouse and ULD

As the industry grapples with labour shortages and the importance of efficiency, we can expect to see the arrival of more and more Smart Warehouse systems. Some of which will undoubtedly have an impact on ULD operations, hopefully in a positive way. During this session, Ian Craig of Omniscient, an NZ developer of these innovations, will share some thoughts on this important subject.

Climate Impact Label Awards

Over the past two years, under the guidance of Louise Platell, the sustainability group has worked steadily to develop this great initiative. And during this year’s conference, we will see the first awards for these labels.

ULD CARE Round Table

This will be a wrap-up session. An opportunity for both industry stakeholders and, of course, delegates to review the ground we have covered over the course of the conference.

Over and above our in-house conference, we will have two opportunities to spend time in the larger Air Cargo Handling community. On the morning of October 15, we will participate in the 60 minutes opening plenary and then, on October 16, we have the whole morning. During both of these sessions, ULD CARE will have the opportunity to be present on stage to promote our contributions to this multisegmented industry.

See you all in Copenhagen!

And one final note on this newsletter, ULD CARE is doubling down on its social media messaging through LinkedIn.

Please make sure you are following the ULD CARE presence to receive all the latest news and information.