Airport ground services and air cargo handling agent Swissport International is to deploy Descartes Systems’ Core Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)™ readers at all 115 of its cargo warehouses. The deployment expands the network used to provide airlines with real-time tracking of international mail, parcel and cargo shipments via the Descartes Core™ Unit Load Device (ULD) Tracking solution.
A next-generation, Bluetooth-enabled solution, Descartes Core ULD Tracking helps air carriers and their partners automate freight tracking, increase operating efficiencies and improve asset management by providing real-time visibility of air shipments bundled into a single ULD container or pallet.
Shipments can be tracked whether in the air or on the ground via the Descartes Core BLE network, part of the Descartes Global Logistics Network. In addition to location, other sensor-based information such as precise temperature, movement (e.g., shock, acceleration and orientation) and humidity can be monitored. Innovative new tags that support smoke and fire detection, light sensing, and doorway ingress/egress are also in development. This data, combined with forecasting of asset location requirements, is designed to help carriers reduce ULD fleet losses, better match capacity with ULD inventory, and reduce the unnecessary costs associated with misplaced equipment or the requirement to lease additional ULDs.