On Thursday, Airspace Technologies, a U.S. logistics startup that specialises in expedited freight transportation, announced that it is growing its operations in Asia and collaborating with Qualcomm and other semiconductor companies.
Using a mix of sensors attached to parcels and a cloud-based software system, Airspace—which was established in 2016 and has attracted $100 million in funding—displays the location of goods in real time as they are picked up by contract drivers, loaded onto aircraft, and then picked up again for delivery. It specialises in high-value shipments (e.g., human organs headed for transplant surgery) when every minute counts.
The company, which has operations in Europe and the US, announced on Thursday that it was growing into Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam in addition to intensifying its work with the semiconductor industry.
Semiconductors usually travel across oceans multiple times during the manufacturing process before they are prepared to be installed in devices like computers and cellphones.
Chips are light and small in comparison to their worth, hence air cargo has become the mode of transportation for them. However, fast-fashion apparel companies are upending the worldwide air cargo market by snatching up capacity that has been restricted since the pandemic.
That is a problem for the semiconductor business, since multibillion dollar plants can only turn a profit when they are operating continuously at full capacity, and stoppages caused by waiting for packages are expensive.
Chip manufacturers are now asking logistics partners for a variety of alternatives, including paying extra to ensure that products arrive on time, according to Alex Coates, president and chief financial officer of Airspace.
"Compared to ten years ago, they are expecting a lot more consultation from their candidates. "You have to assist them in solving these intricate puzzles," Coates stated during an interview.
Airspace's service has been used by Qualcomm's radio frequency chip manufacturing unit RF360 Europe to track shipments from Asia to Europe and vice versa. The unit's senior director of sourcing, Michael Fleischmann, made a statement calling package tracking in real time "a critical aspect in our industry that requires the highest discipline in on-time-deliveries."
(Source:www.reuters.com)
Using a mix of sensors attached to parcels and a cloud-based software system, Airspace—which was established in 2016 and has attracted $100 million in funding—displays the location of goods in real time as they are picked up by contract drivers, loaded onto aircraft, and then picked up again for delivery. It specialises in high-value shipments (e.g., human organs headed for transplant surgery) when every minute counts.
The company, which has operations in Europe and the US, announced on Thursday that it was growing into Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam in addition to intensifying its work with the semiconductor industry.
Semiconductors usually travel across oceans multiple times during the manufacturing process before they are prepared to be installed in devices like computers and cellphones.
Chips are light and small in comparison to their worth, hence air cargo has become the mode of transportation for them. However, fast-fashion apparel companies are upending the worldwide air cargo market by snatching up capacity that has been restricted since the pandemic.
That is a problem for the semiconductor business, since multibillion dollar plants can only turn a profit when they are operating continuously at full capacity, and stoppages caused by waiting for packages are expensive.
Chip manufacturers are now asking logistics partners for a variety of alternatives, including paying extra to ensure that products arrive on time, according to Alex Coates, president and chief financial officer of Airspace.
"Compared to ten years ago, they are expecting a lot more consultation from their candidates. "You have to assist them in solving these intricate puzzles," Coates stated during an interview.
Airspace's service has been used by Qualcomm's radio frequency chip manufacturing unit RF360 Europe to track shipments from Asia to Europe and vice versa. The unit's senior director of sourcing, Michael Fleischmann, made a statement calling package tracking in real time "a critical aspect in our industry that requires the highest discipline in on-time-deliveries."
(Source:www.reuters.com)
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