Engage

In 2006, posts were experiencing increasing delays and required more visibility in the transport leg within the postal pipeline. Meanwhile in the air cargo industry, several airlines involved in mail carriage were facing financial difficulties. Because the sustainability and reliability of the airmail network were at risk, IPC invited executives from leading air cargo operators and member posts to discuss the future of airmail.

Airlines confirmed that posts are key customers, but they expressed concerns regarding mail-specific handling and misalignment with air cargo processes and systems, which resulted in dropping yield. On the other side, posts wanted to address service performance and the lack of visibility. Posts and airlines jointly agreed to closely cooperate and expand Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to provide more visibility to mail in transport and to create conditions to replace paper-based handling and accounting processes with paper-free transport and invoicing.

How does it work?

The Engage initiative is governed by the executives of the initial group of member posts and airlines. It is open to all posts and airlines willing to actively contribute and commit to deploy the commonly agreed measures.

The key working areas are: space allocation, electronic proof of custody and proof of delivery, data capturing efficiencies and electronic settlement based on standard operating and messaging procedures. 

Posts and airlines agreed to benchmark best practice and define enhanced business processes aimed at aligning air cargo and airmail operations to achieve cost reductions. This developed into standard operating and messaging procedures that define both the standard operational processes as well as the EDI messaging procedures.  

Posts and airlines alike need real-time information to manage operations and meet quality targets, comply with security declaration requirements, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and determine payments to each other. The exchange of EDI is a condition to help them to meet customer requirements. EDI interconnects posts and airlines, enabling the creation of an integrated end-to-end network.

Participants of Engage also work on meeting commonly agreed targets for KPIs defined for airmail measurability, service performance and paper-free deployment.

Engage is also the driver behind IPC-developed solutions that support the airmail industry, which include but are not limited to:

• The Integrated Forecasting Allocation and Booking Solution (IFABS): an end-to-end solution designed to assist posts and airlines in airmail transport planning. IFABS includes modules to forecast transport capacity needs, optimise transport plans, build allotment templates, and facilitate booking into the allotment.
• The Mail Registration Device (MRD): allows for the quick and simple registration of mail handovers between posts and airlines at postal facilities situated in airports.
• The Engage dashboard, Airmail Consignment Monitoring, and other Key Performance Indicator (KPI) reporting tools

Benefits

The posts participating in Engage can provide more tracking information specifically from transport leg (leg 2) to their customers and provide a more reliable and consistent service at a lower operating cost, thereby obtaining a competitive advantage compared to posts that have not deployed similar measures. 

Both groups, posts and airlines participating in Engage have obtained processing efficiencies through the expansion of EDI and paper-free transport. Some of the advantages offered by Engage are:

• Improved visibility and quality of service
• Increased interoperability and cost reductions
• Benchmarking and adaptation of best practices
• Industry platform to anticipate and adapt to future market trends
• Development and deployment of standards to meet business requirements

Facts & figures

Since the start of the Engage in 2006 and up to 2019:

• The number of post–airline pairs exchanging EDI messages has quadrupled. 
• EDI standards have been upgraded based on Engage requirements to achieve efficiencies and comply with regulations and e-commerce market demands. New data elements were introduced to support optimised tracking through the nesting of receptacles in air containers. Moreover, these data elements improve accountability, allocation and settlement by introducing data fields like latest handover times, contracting carrier, contract reference and booking reference, among others. To align with air cargo processes, the postal airway bill number was included. 
• All Engage posts and airlines have implemented the latest EDI message standards.
• The number of EDI-based consignments travelling paper free (i.e. with no paper delivery bill) continues to grow and has passed the 85% mark among Engage participants.
• The upgraded standards and best practices are being promoted to all posts and airlines involved in airmail carriage through cooperation with UPU and IATA. To promote the expansion of EDI for airmail, IPC produced a comprehensive EDI Guide. Over 5,000 copies of the English version and 500 copies each of the Russian and French versions of the EDI Guide have been printed. This document is addressed to the different stakeholders of the international mail industry including postal operators, airlines, ground handlers, system vendors, etc. and is the most complete EDI messaging reference in the airmail industry. It provides clear information about the post-airline supply-chain.

More information

For more information about the Airmail Process Harmonisation initiative contact [email protected].