CARGO START, the air cargo technology arm of CIRCLE Group, has launched a new multi-modal visibility platform StarTracking 360 (ST360) providing logistics professionals with more control over shipments from first pick-up to final delivery.

The launch represents a major enhancement to StarTracking – CARGO START’s multi-carrier air cargo tracking solution for freight forwarders. Unlike its predecessor, the ST360 is powered by the company’s proprietary tracking engine that processes real-time and contextual operational data against the milestones set by the IATA Cargo iQ program. The system compares scheduled milestones with actual recorded events to help users find discrepancies and improve control of shipment progress.

The combination of CARGO START technology and Cargo iQ standards has already proven an approach to enable transparency and operational management for airport-to-airport (A2A) shipments. ST360 extends this model beyond air transport to handle the rising complexity of interconnected supply chains.

Freight forwarders, agents, customs brokers, e-commerce operators and manufacturers are handling increasing amounts of shipments involving multiple partners, transport modes and process steps. In this world knowing just where a shipment is located is not enough. “Businesses require visibility of the entire logistics lifecycle, from first to last mile, and the ability to anticipate disruptions and proactively manage activities.”

ST360 is based on a modular architecture that meets these requirements and has APIs to connect to the information systems of customers and partners. This connectivity provides visibility to shipments for import operations and door-to-door (D2D) movement. The platform also enables proactive, multimodal monitoring of shipments handled by third parties and even shipments that were not initially created by the platform’s users.

Besides tracking, the solution also uses operational data to identify anomalies and exceptions early. It can automatically recalculate estimated times of arrivals (ETAs) and provide predictive insights, allowing logistics teams to anticipate potential disruptions, respond faster and make better-informed operational decisions.

CARGO START is also planning to upgrade the analytical capabilities of the platform with the help of ST360 BI, a BI module in its roadmap. The solution will provide dedicated dashboards for contractual service level agreements (SLAs) and service key performance indicators (KPIs) giving businesses additional information to support strategic planning and decision making.

Integration to airport cargo community;

The integration of ST360 with the Airport Cargo Community System (ACS) of CARGO START increases its interoperability. This digital ecosystem orchestrates airport related flows and processes and allows sharing of information between the different stakeholders active in the cargo community.

The integration of ACS with CIRCLE Group’s Global Supply Chain Visibility solutions allows ST360 to consolidate and standardize tracking information across airport-to-airport and door-to-door operations.

This convergence enables the platform to offer intermodal visibility to a broad spectrum of players in the supply chain, such as carriers, ground handlers, terminal operators, freight forwarders, authorities and other organizations involved in cargo movement.

“The broader role of visibility in modern logistics, the shift to more proactive supply chain management”, said Emanuele Vurchio, General Manager of CARGO START, on the occasion of the launch.

“StarTracking 360 is a tool that changes the paradigm of visibility in logistics, from a reactive tool to a strategic lever for planning and governance,” says Emanuele Vurchio.

“It’s not enough to know the status of a shipment anymore,” he said. Logistics operators also need to be able to read events, anticipate problems and coordinate processes among the various parties involved.

“The value of data is changing from just something you monitor to something you can take action on,” says Vurchio. “It allows you to make decisions faster, and get stakeholders more aligned.”

“This is the vision that we are working on together with CIRCLE Group, we are building an integrated, collaborative and truly data-driven logistics ecosystem,” he said.