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1. June 2021The hazardous goods portal INFr8 by Dakosy, established in air freight and used for the digital exchange of hazardous goods data along the supply chain, has been expanded. As of now, the automated creation of hazardous goods documents for the transport modes of sea (IMO declaration) and road (ADR accompanying document) is possible. Furthermore, rail (RID document) will be integrated this quarter.
(Hamburg) “Due to the positive response in the air freight sector and the increasing demand from other transport sectors, we have expanded the platform we operate,” explains DAKOSY authorized signatory Dirk Gladiator. Currently, hazardous goods accompanying documents are predominantly passed on manually across all transport modes and re-entered at each interface.
The digitalization experiences from air freight, which led to enormous simplifications, can be transferred to the transport modes of road, rail, and sea. Gladiator specifies: “In air freight, repeated entries were made by the sender, the freight forwarder/hazardous goods declarant, and the airline/handling agents.” Evaluations show that without digitalization, ten to twelve percent of hazardous goods shipments do not fly as planned, with 80 percent of those due to documentary errors. “The latter can largely be avoided through the digitalization of the paper-based process,” confirms Gladiator.
Hazardous Goods Declarations Completely Electronic
The platform allows for the extensive hazardous goods declarations to be exchanged completely electronically among the transport participants. Key features include the integration of various hazardous goods databases IATA, IMDG, ADR, and RID. “By entering the UN number, the corresponding hazardous goods data is validated. In case of restrictions and limitations, early intervention can be made,” says Gladiator.
Additionally, INFr8 integrates and automates the creation and editing of shipping labels. According to Gladiator, this function is important as printing incorrect shipping labels incurs high costs in practice and, alongside documentation errors, is one of the main reasons for shipments being held up. Features also include alerts, a document cloud, and individual statistics. Users can be integrated regardless of their technical capabilities. Access options are available via EDI interfaces as well as through a web application. There is also a mobile app for notifications in case of disruptions.
Platform Launch at Frankfurt Airport
The hazardous goods platform INFr8 was launched at Frankfurt Airport. It is now used by representatives from the entire air freight transport chain. This includes, among others, the airline Lufthansa Cargo, the handling agent LUG, the shippers Siemens Healthineers and the Merck Group, as well as the freight forwarders DB Schenker and the Geis Group.
Photo: © Fraport
