Swissport enhances air cargo efficiency with RAVAS iForks and RAVAS iCP

Swissport Cargo Services, a global leader in airport ground services and air cargo handling, manages the flow of goods at some of the busiest airports in the world. They handle around 4.1 million ton of palletized air cargo per year.  

At their Frankfurt hub, they faced inefficiencies in invoicing air cargo shipments due to manual weighing and data entry. This process was time-consuming and error-prone, causing delays and impacting billing accuracy. Incorrect weights on Air Waybills pose a significant challenge for cargo handlers like Swissport. This leads to customers being billed inaccurately, while also complicating the planning of weight distribution and fuel consumption for cargo planes.  

With large volumes of cargo passing through daily, Swissport needed a faster, more accurate way to capture weight data during transfers to improve overall workflow and ensure precise billing. 

To tackle these challenges, Swissport implemented the RAVAS RWV-C Cabled iForks and RAVAS iCP, both cutting-edge solutions that integrate weighing directly into their forklift operations. These forks and carriage plates allowed Swissport to capture the weight of cargo in real-time during the loading and unloading process, eliminating the need for separate manual weighing stations. 

With the solutions cargo weights are automatically recorded as the forklifts handle shipments, providing immediate, accurate data that is crucial for invoicing. The seamless integrations not only save valuable time but also ensure precision in capturing weight data, reducing the risk of errors that were common with manual entry. 

The solution is highly flexible and easily adapted to Swissport’s existing workflow without requiring major operational changes. By streamlining the weighing process, Swissport was able to speed up their invoicing and improve overall efficiency, ensuring that their cargo billing kept pace with the high demands of their fast-moving environment. 

Every shipment is weighed directly on the forklift during offloading at goods reception. The forklift driver scans the Air Waybill barcode and records the shipment’s volume. Weight, volume, and ID are instantly transmitted to Swissport’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) via a wireless connection. If the actual weight differs significantly from what is stated on the Air Waybill, a new Air Waybill is automatically generated, and the customer is invoiced for the excess weight. 

The benefits:  

• Weighing is significantly less labor-intensive, making post-hoc invoicing for overweight shipments seamless. 

• Efficient inbound cargo weighing helps Swissport meet stricter Ready for Carriage requirements. 

• Swissport generates additional revenue from more accurate cargo handling and invoicing. 

By adopting the RAVAS iForks and RAVAS iCP, Swissport has transformed their air cargo operations, streamlining their invoicing process with real-time, accurate weight data directly from the forklift. The solution not only reduced manual labor and errors but also improved compliance with industry standards and helped generate additional revenue from accurate billing. 

Swissport was so satisfied with the success of the RAVAS solutions that they also implemented them in their operations in South Africa, the UK, and the Netherlands, with plans to expand to additional locations in the near future. 

Interested in learning how one of our solutions can improve your business? Download our free whitepaper about how mobile weighing data is transforming air cargo.