DUBAI, UAE—Leading UAE-based IT smart Facilities Management (FM) solutions company HITEKServices, which is part of the Farnek group of companies, is to start a pilot project withthe Bank of Khartoum (BOK) to digitalise it’s facilities operations.
Working with HITEK’s Khartoum-based partner, TAD FM, the pilot will start at BOK’sbranches in Khartoum East Sector. Initially, to complete the pilot project BOK hasordered five CAFMTeklicences and will install eight IOTek sensors to monitor footfall,temperature, vibration and voltage, amongst others.
Once the pilot is completed and ifsuccessful, it will be rolled out across BOK’s 140 branches to help digitalise andintegrate all of their facility operations.These state-of-the-art connected, automated and intelligent FM solutions complement aleaner and more sustainable operational process, improving productivity, lowering costsand reducing energy consumption.
The solution digitalises, connects and automatesfacilities management, using innovative technologies that integrate people, process,assets and facilities logically and seamlessly.
One unique feature is HITEK’s WhatsApp AI Chatbot, which provides connectivity toonsite project teams wherever they are, through an integrated mobile CAFM,streamlining service requests and once complete an automated closure notification.
This provides real-time visibility across various services and can also monitor, escalateand report dynamically through mobility, web portal and automated email reports.
Commenting about the project, Javeria Aijaz, MD – HITEK Services, said: “Thislandmark project will digitalise BOK’s conventional FM, into smart, sustainable andsecure digital facility operations,monitoring and controlling their assets as well theperformance of their FM teams.
“With a centralised and dynamic AI dashboard, our cloud-based solution will providecontinuous management and transparency for BOK’s operations, across all 140 sites.”
Headquartered in Khartoum, BOK is the largest and oldest bank in Sudan managingassets worth US$ 2 billion. It was established in 1913 and by 1954 it was rebranded asBarclay’s Bank. Almost fifty years later, after the bank had been nationalised by theSudanese government, in 2001 the bank was privatised, with UAE-based Dubai IslamicBank, taking a 60% share.
Across the group it has almost 3,000 employees with 150 branches and cash officesand over 325 ATM/CDMs, the largest branch and ATM network in Sudan, offeringservices to corporate, retail, microfinance and investment business sectors.
HITEK signed an agency agreement with Khartoum-based TAD FM in July 2022. It isone of largest FM companies in Sudan and has a workforce of over 1,500 employeesspread across Sudan, Egypt and the wider North and East African regions.
Also headquartered in Khartoum, award-winning TAD, which focuses on delivering aboth hard and soft FM services, has grown five-fold over the last five years to becomeone of the most prominent facilities management companies in the region.
“Given Sudan’s geography, HITEK’s mobility solution will make BOK’s operations morecost-efficient and sustainable. Their unique WhatsApp Chatbot will make it simple tosubmit and automate support requests. Whether it’s service requests, audits, ormanagement reporting, the mobile solution ensures technicians and supervisors cancommunicate with each other in real time, efficiently and effectively,” said MohamedAbdelhamied – CEO TAD.
Abu Dhabi, UAE–Abu Dhabi Airports, the operator of the emirate’s five airports, has finalised a new partnership with Jetex, a global leader in executive aviation services, to enhance the VIP passenger experience at Al Bateen Executive Airport (ABEA).
A major milestone in Abu Dhabi Airports’ strategy to further develop the business aviation offerings at the airport, Jetex will assume responsibility for managing daily business services under a Fixed Based Operator (FBO) contract, upgrading key infrastructure within the VIP and VVIP terminals and ensuring passengers enjoy better travel experiences.
The agreement was made public during a signing ceremony held at Al Bateen Airport, signed from Abu Airports side by their MD and CEO, H.E. Eng. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri and Adel Mardini, Founder and CEO, Jetex.
“We are delighted to welcome Jetex to Al Bateen Executive Airport and look forward to working with such a distinguished aviation services specialist, as we reinvigorate tailor-made business aviation.” Said Al Dhaheri. “As a dedicated FBO operator well versed with the needs and requirements of this specific market segment, we look forward to collaborating with Jetex moving forward and successfully delivering great value to all our passengers.”
Abu Dhabi will become the 38th destination in the Jetex global private jet terminal network and the company plans to offer its award-winning flagship service concept at the airport. Passengers traveling via Jetex Abu Dhabi can look forward to a seamless travel experience with several spacious private lounges of VIP and VVIP terminals, elegant hospitality and luxurious amenities, synonymous with the Jetex brand. On-site immigration and customs support ensure smooth formalities for arrivals and departures.
Commenting on the occasion, Mardini said: “Jetex Abu Dhabi marks a milestone for our brand and confirms our commitment to the region. We are especially excited to bring the Jetex experience to the UAE capital. We aim to create a regal welcome to this beautiful city for our international guests as well as to ensure that every need is anticipated, every wish is granted, and every minute is memorable when you are with us at Jetex Abu Dhabi.”
DUBAI, UAE—Worldwide PC shipments totaled 55.2 million units in the first quarter of 2023, a 30% decrease from the first quarter of 2022, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. An unfavorable combination of oversupply and continued low PC demand due to economic uncertainties and a lack of purchase motivation led to the second consecutive quarter of historic year-over-year decline.
“PC pricing pressures intensified during the quarter as vendors offered considerable discounts to clear inventory,” said Mikako Kitagawa, Director Analyst at Gartner. “To drive demand, vendors temporarily reduced average selling prices (ASPs) of PCs already in the channels, but ASPs of new PCs shipping into the channels remained elevated due to inflation-driven supply chain cost increases.”
“Essentially, PC vendors pursued a strategy to protect margins rather than to pursue market share by lowering prices,” added Kitagawa. “ASPs will increase moderately in 2023 as vendors pass the cost increases for new PCs entering the channel to end users.”
The top vendors in the worldwide PC market remained unchanged in the first quarter of 2023, with Lenovo maintaining the No. 1 spot in shipments with 23.3% market share (see Table 1).
Lenovo recorded the steepest annual shipment decline in its corporate history over two quarters. While the U.S. was a particularly challenging market for Lenovo, the company had modest growth in Japan driven by end of fiscal year PC purchases.
This was the seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit shipment decline for HP. HP shipments in EMEA dropped by 37% compared to a year ago but declined less steeply in the U.S. market.
Dell saw its fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline. Asia Pacific was its hardest-hit market, with shipments down by over 40%. Dell’s decline was largely driven by the weak business PC market.
“Business PC demand was slow overall this quarter, but the small and midsize business (SMB) market was especially weak due to economic uncertainties,” said Kitagawa. “IT has remained a top area for SMB spending as organizations recognize the importance of leveraging technology for growth, but PCs are often the first area to face budget cuts as the product life can be extended. In contrast, spending in other technology segments such as software and IT services is expected to grow in 2023.”
The EMEA PC market experienced a significant decline of 35.9% compared with a year ago, with shipment volumes for the whole region falling below the total U.S. shipment volume.
“The continued impact of political unrest, inflationary pressures, interest rate increases and a pending recession has culminated in another massive decline in the EMEA PC market,” said Kitagawa. “None of the top six vendors were immune from the collapse, all losing more than a third of their shipment volumes year-over-year.”
The Asia Pacific PC market also had a significant decline, with China suffering the most due to high inventory in the channel and weak demand. Outside of China, the PC market was also weak due to inflation, increasing interest rates and local currency depreciation. However, countries including India and Vietnam fared slightly better due to the shift of manufacturing sites and business operations out of China, as enterprises tried to diversify to reduce over-reliance on China as a single production source. The Japanese market saw a relatively moderate decline at 9.8% compared to other regions.
These results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner’s PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture of the worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution, marketing and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and their future implications around the globe.
ABU DHABI, UAE—Etihad Cargo has also further expanded its online booking portal capabilities as part of its ongoing digitalization strategy. Part of this is the introduction of online pet shipment bookings for dogs and cats, online dangerous goods bookings and a custom feed within the customer dashboard.
Traditionally, booking pet shipments has required customers to send multiple documents via email. Following the launch of the online pet shipment booking feature, Etihad Cargo’s customers can book the shipment of dogs and cats via the online booking portal, making the booking process easier than ever before.
Booking the shipment of dangerous goods via the enhanced online booking portal has also been simplified. Etihad Cargo’s booking portal now enables the capture of United Nations (UN) numbers, which are globally recognized classifications that identify hazardous substances in international shipping.
“Since the launch of Etihad Cargo’s enhanced online booking portal, the carrier has continued to launch new features that are making it easier for customers to make bookings,” said Drew
Adding, “Expanding the capabilities of the booking portal to include the booking of pets and dangerous goods shipments directly via the portal is the latest step by Etihad Cargo in making the booking process as seamless as possible while helping customers to ensure the compliance of their cargo with international regulations.”
The new custom feed within the customer dashboard within the portal will further improve customer experience, enabling Etihad Cargo to customize the content it shares with customers. In addition to sharing information on green lanes and updates, the custom feed will show relevant offers and campaigns, making it easier for customers to access information relevant to their sector or region.
The new features launched as part of this development phase complement past updates, which saw the carrier introduce a more streamlined booking process that enabled users to create and confirm a booking within 45 seconds. Further enhancements are already planned and will include features focused on specific documents and validations by origin and destination.
Wiremind has won a multi-year contract to support Qatar Airways Cargo’s revenue management plans within its ‘Next Generation’ initiative.
Qatar Airways Cargo has selected three sales and revenue management solutions from Wiremind’s cargo management suite.
Using Wiremind’s Revenue Management system, Qatar Airways Cargo will be provided with advanced demand forecasts and optimised entry conditions, enabling the airline to maximise its network contribution and revenue.
The carrier will also have access to the newly launched Overbooking module, which leverages machine learning models to forecast the cargo show-up rate on the day, supporting flight analysts in their decisions on the overbooking percentage for a particular flight to minimise capacity wastage on the day of departure.
The last solution chosen by Qatar Airways is Wiremind’s original flagship product, SkyPallet, which optimises space calculations at various points in the cargo lifecycle, to ensure maximum capacity usage and accurate quotations.
Over the coming months, Wiremind and Qatar Airways Cargo will begin the implementation of the chosen solutions through workshops and training of over 300 users to further establish the airline’s digital vision and how its changing needs can be adapted and addressed within Wiremind’s flexible product suite.
Nathanaël de Tarade, chief executive of Wiremind, said: “With the world’s leading cargo airline now on board, we are more than proud, and we look forward to supporting Qatar Airways Cargo in shaping the air cargo industry of the future with all the opportunities that our advanced digital and data-driven machine-learning products can bring.”
“Digital processes and solutions play a fundamental role in taking Qatar Airways Cargo into The Next Generation,” says Guillaume Halleux, chief officer cargo at Qatar Airways Cargo.
Qatar Airways Cargo recently partnered with FLYR Labs to utilise the latter’s cloud-native decision intelligence platform that is designed to leverages deep learning technology to provide automated, AI-based revenue optimisation and management capabilities.
Air Europa Cargo has partnered with IT firm CargoAi on its e-booking platform which is due to launch in the middle of this year.
The new e-booking platform will be launched using CargoAi’sCargoGATE solution, due to its “plug and play” integration, said CargoAi.
The airfreight digitalisation company said the platform will enable freight forwarders to “search, book, track, and pay for all their shipments on Air Europa within minutes on the same interface”.
Payment and CO2 tracking and reduction functions will be respectively powered by CargoAi’s recently launched CargoWALLET and Cargo2ZERO solutions.
The technical maintenance will also be managed by CargoAi, allowing Air Europa Cargo customers to benefit from modification or advance booking features.
With this integration, users of CargoMART will be able to search, book and pay (using CargoWALLET) for all of Air Europa Cargo’s worldwide routes from mid-2023.
The worldwide launch of Air Europa Cargo’s e-booking platform will cover all of its products, except for valuables.
Due to the specific handling restrictions and limited request from its customers, freight forwarders booking this type of cargo will need to contact Air Europa Cargo directly.
“We chose to partner with CargoAi to accelerate our digital adoption as we were looking for a solution and partner that presented minimal IT investment, accelerated deployment, and low long-term maintenance requirements from our side,” said Jordi Piqué, general manager of Air Europa Cargo.
“CargoGATE ticks those boxes. We tested their existing application which is user-friendly, and we believe this user experience will drive efficiencies for our existing customers, and increase loyalty to the Air Europa Cargo booking experience.”
MatthieuPetot, chief executive of CargoAi, said: “We are proud to have been chosen by Air Europa Cargo for their digital adoption and excited that they have chosen to integrate the full suite of our offering including our sustainability and payment solutions.
“This partnership also allows the simultaneous benefit to have Air Europa Cargo schedules and capacity available on our digital marketplace application, CargoMART, allowing Air Europa Cargo to be booked by the 8000+ forwarders that we currently have on our digital marketplace.”
Air Europa Cargo is the Air Europa airline business unit dedicated to the delivery of air cargo services.
Menzies Aviation will use Wipro’s cargo handling product to increase the transparency, efficiency and competitiveness of its air cargo management services.
Wipro’s cargo handling product was designed with cloud-native technologies to improve business efficiencies, enhance employee experience and customer service through increased automation, and provide business insights.
The product is expected to provide greater visibility of cargo location to both Menzies and its customers, support scanning technology for cargo and documentation, and integrate directly with customers’ operating systems, resulting in increased transparency and real-time-tracking.
It is also designed to enable new technologies developed for warehouses of the future including robotics, autonomous vehicles and true paperless environments.
Robert Fordree, executive vice president cargo, Menzies Aviation, said that “Wipro’s platform will ensure we can utilise cutting-edge systems and products in the years ahead”.
He added: “This agreement will enable end-to-end digitalization of our operations, process standardisation, consistent customer service and enhanced employee experience, which is hugely important in attracting a new generation of cargo professionals.
“Our teams will be able to utilise an operating system that is more aligned to the look and feel of everyday apps, and our customers will benefit from increased transparency of cargo status, use of automation to speed up processes and improved safety and security procedures.”
OmkarNisal, managing director UK & Ireland, Wipro Limited, said: “Wipro is delighted to partner with Menzies Aviation, a global powerhouse in aviation services. This collaboration enables us to leverage Wipro’s extensive technological capabilities coupled with Menzies’ vast cargo-handling and management experience to deliver a product that will help revolutionise the air-cargo industry.
“We are excited to deliver a modern, contemporary cargo handling solution architected on latest technologies that will support Menzies’ air cargo transformation and growth plans. Wipro’s new product is radically simple to use through a reimagined user experience paradigm.
“It will also address the urgent need for improved efficiencies in the supply chain driven by the tremendous growth in e-commerce business, while also improving processes in air cargo. We will continue to leverage Wipro’s vast technology prowess and invest in the product to deliver industry leading solutions to Menzies and the air cargo industry.”
Menzies will be rolling out the Wipro product to five air cargo locations — Bucharest in Romania; Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland in New Zealand; and Macau in China — by the end of 2023, with further plans to fully implement it across Menzies’ global network by the end of 2024.
Air New Zealand (NZ) Cargo has placed its capacity on CargoAi’s digital marketplace CargoMART to expand its online offering.
The first Australasian carrier to use CargoAi’s technology, Air NZ Cargo is now offering its capacity from the US and Canada into New Zealand and Australia.
Freight forwarders in the US and Canada can book general and express cargo instantaneously on all Air NZ Cargo routes.
Following the pilot launch, Air NZ Cargo will expand its offering on CargoAi on a global scale. This will allow the full visibility and booking of all its routes to more than 9,000 freight forwarders across 105 countries who regularly use CargoMART.
Users of CargoMART benefit from searching for real-time schedules, bulk quoting, e-booking, the ability to track and trace each shipment, as well CargoAi’s Cargo2ZERO sustainable features to support the air cargo industry’s decarbonisation mission.
Matt Petot, chief executive of CargoAi, said: “We are proud to be the marketplace of choice that Air NZ has chosen to commence its digital offering with.
“With our shared vision in transforming the air cargo landscape, we are looking forward to bringing the best digital booking experience that CargoMART offers to our joint customers.”
Brooke Roberts, sales manager, North America from Air NZ Cargo, added: “We are pleased to be partnering with CargoAi as Air New Zealand Cargo looks to expand our customer base within the North America market.
“While we enjoy a strong presence from the ports where we operate direct flights, the sheer size of the US and Canada market dictates we embrace platforms that expand our commercial reach.
“CargoAi will provide us the tools necessary to effectively offer cargo solutions to these customers for their everyday transportation needs into New Zealand and Australia.”
Virgin Atlantic Cargo is launching a new structure for its products that offers various levels of speed and priority across the portfolio.
The new structure means that when customers select one of the cargo divisions products – General, Courier, Fresh, Pharma, Valuable, Vulnerable, Cars, mail, and Custom – they will also be able to select from three service levels: Classic, Priority, and Express.
Classic is the entry service level, Priority includes preferred access to space and guarantees delivery on time and Express offers the fastest solution, with the shortest close-out times and highest priority.
Sean Cruse, manager of commercial development at Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said: “The logistics space is evolving quickly around how our customers want to interact, and the operational requirements needed to efficiently transport goods around the world, which is why it is important to us to provide our customers with more choice so they can move cargo, their way.
“This new structure will help our customers understand the range of capabilities we can offer across our network and allow for a tailored movement based on their exact requirements.
“It also acts as our foundation for continuous improvement, where we will be reviewing and developing our offering based on customers feedback through our established Customer Survey programme.”
The development follows the airline’s recent cargo management system upgrade to Accelya’s latest SkyChain solution.
Maria Sanchez-Grant, head of distribution at Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said: “As we continue our digital transformation journey, this change in our products allows us to provide an intuitive experience across any channel for our customers. Having this as our foundation allows us to continually develop and enhance what we do to further improve our offering.”
The company is also looking to roll out online booking following its investment in upgrading its digital capabilities.
Airfreight quality standards group Cargo iQ has welcomed air cargo terminal systems provider Lödige Industries to its ranks.
Germany-headquartered Lödige will, said a statement from Cargo iQ, “lend its experience as a provider of logistics systems and material handling solutions to the global airport, warehouse, and production industries”.
LotharMoehle, Cargo iQ’s executive director, commented: “By joining the Cargo iQ community, Lödige has pledged its commitment to our mission to drive quality and standardisation in the movement of cargo by air.
“The Lödige team will offer a valuable new perspective to important conversations and will help drive progress in establishing industry-wide standards and processes to bring long-lasting improvements to supply chain visibility,” he said.
BjörnUssat, director air cargo at Lödige, will also be the company’s representative at Cargo iQ. He declared: “We believe the industry is at a tipping point for change, with the digitalisation we have long talked about really taking place and driving change.
“We believe Cargo iQ is an excellent platform for these discussions and for furthering innovation in the air cargo industry.”
He added: “As further standardisation of KPIs [key performance indicators] in the industry develops, we are looking forward to learning and contributing to key conversations from a technical provider’s point of view.”
Cargo iQ is a not-for-profit quality standards group working to create and implement specifications to enhance the value and efficiency of the global air cargo industry.
Originally founded by leading airlines and forwarders to improve reliability in the supply chain, its membership has grown to include airlines, forwarders, ground handlers, IT solution providers, and road feeder services (RFS) providers.
Members work together to develop a system of shipment planning and performance monitoring for air cargo based on common business processes and milestones.
Technology has made the world smaller and faster.Real time communication with people from all over the world at different time zones through phones and gadgets
