CharterSync is celebrating four years of work to reimagine the air cargo charter industry, making it seamless, effortless and accessible for all. From the very start, CharterSync has ensured that innovation is at the very heart of the company culture and processes that it employs.
Airfreight is still one of the remaining industries that has been so reliant on traditional processes. Technological advancement was an obvious solution to provide greater speed and efficiency in such a dynamic air cargo market.
“We encourage our team to challenge the status quo at every opportunity and it is this change of mindset that has allowed us to grow and maintain a strong position within the market,” Ed Gillett, CharterSync’s co-founder, said.
“When we first launched in 2019 the willingness to adopt new technologies from the market was slower, and it has been through education and perseverance that has fuelled increased interest in technological innovation,” he added. “The air charter industry is ripe for disruption, and those who don’t adapt risk being left behind.”
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Reshaping air cargo
Adoption of new technology in such an established and traditional market is always going to present the most difficult challenge to overcome for a business like CharterSync.
“We have overcome this challenge by focussing on how we can best educate our clients on the value that our technology can add to their operation and end customers versus traditional methods,” Simon Watson, co-founder of CharterSync explained.
Innovation should aim to enhance established processes rather than remove them or double up with added workload. Getting the right balance of digitalisation and human touch is vitally important in the logistics sector and especially so in the charter market.
“We focus on how we can use new technology to centralise all of the traditional forms of communication in one place supporting the lines of communication between each stakeholder,” Watson said.
As a business, CharterSync continually challenges itself to do better and always looks to see if there are better ways of operating when things don’t go to plan or the solution isn’t a full fit for the problem.
“By nurturing this type of internal culture we feel that we will always be able to stay ahead of the competition and ensure our own business isn’t disrupted by another new entrant or established competitor,” Watson continued.
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Disruption in the industry
With so many changing dynamics in the market, no human being can possibly keep up to date with the fast-paced changing environment. It is those individuals who are leveraging new technologies that are able to keep ahead and provide enhanced value across the supply chain.
CharterSync believes the failure of the air cargo industry to embrace technological innovation at the same time and pace as the passenger market has led to an inefficient sales process for carriers resulting in potentially unsold capacity and missed revenue. The charter broker argues that, for clients wishing to book capacity, it has resulted in a slow and lengthy process to both source and procure capacity. The combined effect adds extra delays and added cost to the end clients.
Air cargo capacity and availability is changing every second, and unless you can keep up to date using the technology available, you risk being left behind. “The era of unpredictability is not disappearing, and it is this scenario that is fuelling increased interest in digitisation and interest in our services,” Gillett said.
“It has been proven time and again in many markets before that the players who find themselves in the lead have historically continued to invest into new technology that will give them a competitive advantage. Investment into innovation and digitalisation is not just a one off event, it takes time and continuous investment to ensure continuous progress is made, a value we truly believe in,” Watson added.
“All regions within the air cargo charter market remain ripe for disruption, and we hope to share some exciting developments in the coming months,” Gillett continued.
