“Cargomen has ambitious digital transformation plans”

Cargomen believes in the Integrated approach of logistics and always works toward better customer experience in terms of right turn around time, effective cost and solution mindset. With its strong presence in India and Singapore, the company is all set to expand in Thailand, Vietnam and London over the next two years, shares Arup Kumar Das, National Head – Freight Forwarding, Cargomen Logistics in an interview with Apace Digital Cargo. 

How has been the changing scenario of the air cargo industry in terms of digitalisation, new cargo airlines coming in and even the ocean carriers are making a mark in the air cargo? How do you see the contribution of Cargomen Logistics towards the industry? 

 There has been digitisation happening in airlines, terminals, freight forwarding companies. The need of the hour is interoperability between these agencies which is the biggest challenge of digitisation. Digitisation of the air cargo industry could potentially improve aspects like operations, flexibility, planning, and sustainability. 

 Ocean carriers participating in the air cargo industry are a welcome move for the EXIM community and there will be exchange of best practices among various modes of transportation. Integrated logistics planning will be more prudent. Cargomen is always at the forefront of providing innovative solutions backed by Technology.

What are focussed areas and expansion plans when it comes to air freight services? Any new endeavours plan? 

Cargomen believes in the Integrated approach of logistics and always works toward better customer experience in terms of right turn around time, effective cost and solution mindset.  We are working toward overseas expansion in Thailand, Vietnam and London over the next two years.

How do you see initiatives taken by the government for the freight forwarders community? One side National Logistics Policy is unveiled and then comes the government decision to discontinue GST exemption on air freight 18 pc. So do you see these two actions by the government and impact on the growth of the sector and exports?  

The aim of NLP is to bring down logistics cost from 13 – 14% to single-digit as soon as possible however sometimes government policies are not in line with exporting community expectations. The overall policies and economic environment is looking extremely positive and headed towards growth. As a Freight forwarder, we strongly recommend export freight should not be taxed and I am sure tax authorities will find a better mechanism of avoiding evasion and fixing accountability.

E-commerce and digitalisation are the trends of the industry. Even “Digital freight forwarder” is the latest term to be used. What do you have to say on this? How will it impact the traditional freight forwarding? How to cope with the changing trends in the industry?

It is seen that digital freight forwarders are mostly having an edge over the traditional ones. Even though today we can still see traditional freight forwarders, they are also moving towards digitising themselves to be on par with modern freight forwarders.  Forwarders who are ahead in technological adoption may be called as digital freight forwarders. Cargomen started its digital journey more than 10 years back with the implementation of ERP. Cargomen has ambitious digital transformation plans to provide the services in a Digital way for its customers. 

ACAAI 46th Convention is all set to take place in Bangkok from 24th to 27th Nov, after a gap of 2 years due to pandemic situation; what is your anticipation for the convention as post pandemic scenario and resilience of the industry will be key topics of the discussions at the convention?

It’s good to see convention is taking place after a gap and we are sure important topics like resilience, technological changes, automation, and technological interoperability will be key topics. This Convention along with other global summits will set the tone for how the post pandemic digital freight forwarding will work.