Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) – Hong Kong’s largest independent handler – has further streamlined its cargo acceptance operations with the opening of its new Terminal Services Center (Export) (TSCE), embodying new digital processes and document handling features.
Hactl’s Terminal Services Center has been providing Air Cargo Documentation (ACD) services for airline customers since 1998. By 2023, three quarters of Hactl’s 100+ airline customers were using the facility, which now handles an average of 2,000 air waybills daily; around 80 percent of these have traditionally been paper documents. Hactl totally revamped its Terminal Services Centre (Import) (TSCI) operations in 2022.
Hactl’s new TSCE provides a more pleasant working environment for staff, and utilizes many innovative new features to enhance operational efficiency and the customer experience:
Agents can now make a Dangerous Goods Inspection Reservation via the COSAC-Mobile app, instead of filling out a paper request on arrival at the TSCE counter.
TSCE staff can now use Real-time build-up monitoring to check ULD build-up progress at workstations in real time.
A new TSC Dashboard provides a comprehensive, instant overview of all export cargo documents being processed, facilitating faster and more accurate decision-making and providing important management data.
The new TSCE also supports Export Cargo Document e-Submission, enabling freight agents to submit export cargo documents online in advance, so avoiding last-minute rushes and eliminating counter queuing.
A new Document Submission Hub will enable visiting agents to place their documents into totes instead of handing them to counter staff. The Hub will then check the documents and store them, using an automated archive and retrieval system.
The Document Submission Hub will timestamp and track the documents’ progress through submission and acceptance or rejection (stating the reason for any rejection), and will constantly log progress to provide agents, airlines and Hactl staff with instant, real-time status information.
Meanwhile, a Document Management System will collect and collate data from all Export Cargo Document e-Submissions, to assist in consolidating documentation and building cargo manifests for each flight.
Hactl chief executive Wilson Kwong said: “The new TSCE delivers numerous benefits for all parties. For Hactl, it will reduce the space and human effort required for paper handling, reduce paper consumption, minimise opportunities for human error and also facilitate earlier pre-manifesting.
“For freight forwarders, the new TSCE will provide an accurate timeline of progress and instant document acceptance results, and also reduce costs by eliminating the use of couriers.
“For our airline customers, the new TSCE will record and display document delivery and acceptance times, reduce the space required for document storage, and facilitate earlier flight close-outs and acceptance of later bookings.”
He concludes: “The new TSCE is a significant further step towards our goal of paper-free operations, a major enhancement of our efficiency and service quality, and a winner for everyone.”
The grand opening of the new TSCE took place on Sept. 25, attended by numerous officials from government departments, customers and local air cargo industry executives; these included representatives from the Transport and Logistics Bureau, Civil Aviation Department, Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, Airport Authority Hong Kong, Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics, Hong Kong Association of Aircargo Truckers and the International Air Transport Association.
