Umesh Kurlekar, Head of Maritime Practice, Kale Logistics Solutions, highlights their innovative digital solutions, including the Logistics & Customs Control Tower and UPLIFT platform, which streamline multimodal logistics, enhancing efficiency, transparency, and integration across air, sea, road, and rail transport.
Kale Logistics Solutions focuses on seamless integration across transportation modes
Umesh Kurlekar discusses Kale Logistics Solutions role in advancing multimodal logistics. Kale continuously enhances its digital solutions to meet the evolving needs of the air cargo industry, focusing on e-commerce, cybersecurity, pharmaceutical tracking, sustainability, and logistics e-marketplaces. Their LCCT is designed to streamline cross-border cargo movement for exporters and importers through a single window. When connected with their Airport Cargo Community System (ACS)/ Port Community System (PCS), LCCT creates a fully automated supply chain for individual stakeholders. Additionally, Kale is developing digital corridors between airports and intermodal corridors between airports and ports.
Overcoming challenges with UPLIFT
Multimodal logistics faces numerous challenges and risks across all transportation modes, making it a dynamic field. Kale addresses these complexities through collaboration and technology. The sector’s issues include numerous stakeholders, inadequate infrastructure, and no single governing body. Kale’s perspective is to treat logistics as a unified industry focused on swift and efficient cargo movement. Their UPLIFT platform meets comprehensive trade needs by handling documentation, filing, approvals, integrations, payments, and secure data sharing among all stakeholders, effectively overcoming these obstacles.
Future trends: AI and M&A
Umesh observes that several key trends are shaping the future of multimodal logistics. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are rising, with shipping lines and airlines acquiring tech start-ups and logistics firms. There’s also a trend towards global consolidation, where a few major players are setting the standards for global trade. AI stands out as a significant trend, driving innovation, sustainability, and competitiveness in the air cargo sector. It is transforming air freight by enhancing operational efficiency, improving security, optimizing logistics tasks, and creating a more responsive customer service environment. Umesh notes that AI’s potential to revolutionise the industry continues to impress and drive change.
Seamless integration
Kale focuses on seamless integration across transportation modes. Their sea-air digital corridors link airports and ports, enabling smooth cargo movement with advanced information sharing. They’re also developing land port systems for road transport in cross-border trade. What sets Kale’s solutions apart is their ability to seamlessly connect with existing systems via simple APIs, ensuring efficient data exchange and coordination.
Debunking myths with Kale
Umesh addresses common misconceptions about multimodal logistics, such as it being time-consuming, expensive, lacking ETAs, and not transparent or optimized. He explains that Kale Logistics Solutions tackles these issues with their Cargo Community Systems (CCS) and enterprise automation. The CCS model is modular and scalable, extending to the LCCT, which streamlines cross-border cargo movement through a single window. This integration, when connected with the CCS, creates a fully automated supply chain, enhancing efficiency, transparency, and optimisation for all stakeholders.
