Tag: logistics solutions

Mike Smith, Product Director at HLT, describes the earliest shift very simply:

“In the 90s, 90% of airway bills were paper and the biggest issue was always the time lag, what happened in the warehouse and what the system knew were never the same thing.”

Digitalisation has changed three major aspects of ground handling operations:

1. Real-time visibility – Updates happened instantly, not hours later
2. Awareness of failures – Supervisors could see issues early instead of waiting for customer complaints.
3. Shared data – Information stopped living in separate places, systems or individuals’ heads.

However as Lance Duppa-Whyte, HLT Product Director, points out, the workforce has changed alongside the technology. In the past, cargo operations relied on long-term teams with deep operational knowledge. Today, turnover is higher and many roles are filled by temporary or agency staff, with less time to build experience. This fundamentally shifted expectations of what systems need to provide.

“The system has to offer the knowledge that used to come from years of experience,” Lance explains

“Hermes was designed with this reality in mind, not simply to digitise tasks, but to guide users through complex work reliably and consistently, even under pressure.

Why Hermes works the way it does

Hermes’ design philosophy has remained consistent from the beginning: Give users visibility, prevent problems before they escalate and bring the entire operation into one environment.

Mike remembers early system demonstrations clearly: “You’d show a manager a single screen and say: If it’s not highlighted here, it’s running fine. Anything that appears needs attention. They’d immediately pull out their laptop and check the live operation.”

Hermes was built to be:

• A single operational environment – Before Hermes, ground handlers used separate systems for operations, accounting and airline updates. Consolidation brought consistency and speed.
• Functionally rich – Hermes was never designed as a simplified “tick-box” system. It handles complex scenarios, edge cases and operational realities that lighter systems often overlook.
• Shaped by real experience – Much of the system logic comes directly from people who worked on the floor, not abstract design assumptions.

As Lance puts it:

“Hermes is a smart system. It supports almost every scenario you might see in a warehouse. That’s always been the core strength.”

In the final article, Mike and Lance share what they would look for if they were choosing a cargo management system today and why people remain the biggest factor in successful digitalisation.

Digitalisation in air cargo is often described through technology, integrations and automation. But behind every meaningful transformation are the people who understand what the industry looks like in real life, on a busy warehouse floor, at the reception desk dealing with customers or managing the pressure of irregular operations.

They know how problems escalate, how delays are created and how a single missing update can affect an entire flight.

At Hermes Logistics Technologies, two of those people are our Product Directors, Mike Smith and Lance Duppa-Whyte. With more than four decades of combined experience across ground handling, airline operations and frontline cargo processes, they’ve witnessed the industry shift from paper to real-time data and helped shape the systems that now power it.

In a recent conversation, they shared how the business has evolved, what digitalisation actually changed and why real operational experience still matters when designing cargo management systems.

From the warehouse floor to designing Hermes

Mike entered the industry at 18, starting at Pan Am as a transshipment driver, moving freight between airlines long before the modern ground handling model existed.

He later joined Lufthansa at Heathrow, progressing from warehouse operations into office roles, senior agent positions, supervisor and duty manager responsibilities. Dangerous goods became one of his areas of expertise, giving him a deep understanding of processes that modern systems now aim to digitalise.

Lance joined Lufthansa later through an agency programme, starting as an import clerk before becoming a trainer within two months. He worked across reception, customer service, quality control and SLA management and played a central role in designing early process-mapping tools.

Those tools would later influence the first iterations of Hermes.

Both men were involved in capturing operational knowledge and translating it into digital workflows when they were part of a team that designed the first unified system in the early 2000s.

“That’s how Hermes was formed,” Lance recalls. “By mapping real issues and bringing together expertise that had never existed in one place before. We ensure that the our products and services guide busy users, prevent errors and make complex workflows manageable.”

In the next article, Mike and Lance explain how digitalisation fundamentally reshaped ground handling operations and why today’s systems must do more than simply replace paper.

The air cargo industry is under constant pressure. Volumes continue to rise, service level agreements are tightening and customers increasingly expect real-time visibility across complex global supply chains. For airlines and ground handlers, this creates a clear requirement: Cargo operations must be digital, connected and scalable, without disrupting live operations.

Hermes Logistics Technologies has evolved its proven cargo management technology into hermesONE, a next-generation ecosystem that builds on the strength of hermes5 while extending it into a broader digital platform designed to support the realities of modern cargo handling while creating a stable foundation for future growth.

hermesONE is not a single system or a one-off upgrade. It is a continuously evolving digital cargo platform, which brings together core operations, mobile execution, data, AI, automation and learning within one coherent environment.

A modular SaaS ecosystem built to evolve and grow

At the heart of hermesONE is hermes5 (h5), HLT’s function-rich, cloud-hosted Cargo Management System. Surrounding this core is a growing suite of modular applications designed to extend visibility, efficiency and operational control.

Together, these components form a unified SaaS ecosystem that customers can adopt progressively, scaling capabilities at their own pace, without the risk and disruption traditionally associated with large system replacements and without requiring a rip-and-replace of existing Hermes deployments

This approach reflects how cargo operations actually modernise in practice: By stabilising first, then evolving continuously.

A SaaS managed service, which reduces risk and accelerates digitalisation

hermesONE is delivered as a SaaS managed service, providing enterprise-grade cargo technology with the benefits of a fully managed application and without major upfront investment or infrastructure overhead.

This approach helps cargo operations of all sizes to:

• Reduce infrastructure and maintenance costs
• Minimise implementation and operational risk
• Stay current with continuous software enhancements
• Extend digital capabilities module by module.

Operational teams can focus on running safe, efficient and profitable cargo operations, while platform updates, enhancements, innovation and support are handled continuously in the background.

The operational core: hermes5 (h5)

hermes5 is the operational engine of hermesONE. Built and refined over more than two decades of live cargo deployments, h5 provides comprehensive control across import, export and transit processes.

Key capabilities include:

• End-to-end process steering across the warehouse, supporting more predictable cargo flows and fewer handover gaps
• Real-time mobile warehouse execution, reducing delays and re-handling at the point of work
• Automated messaging and accounting, reducing manual intervention, errors and revenue leakage
• IATA-aligned dangerous goods compliance, supporting safe handling and audit-ready regulatory adherence
• Complete service management and service recovery modules,
• Seamless integration with supply chain partners, improving milestone visibility and SLA performance
• Full operational and financial data visibility, enabling faster exception handling and controlled recovery when disruptions occur
• Revenue loss prevention through powerful audit capabilities, identifying discrepancies and missed charges early.

Hosted in the cloud, h5 delivers enterprise performance while enabling the wider hermesONE ecosystem to evolve without disruption.

hermesONE Mobile: Real-time control on the warehouse floor

hermesONE Mobile is HLT’s newest fully integrated mobile application, delivering the full hermesONE platform in a mobile-first experience.

Rather than relying on fragmented handheld tools, hermesONE Mobile enables operational teams to:

• Access live shipment and warehouse status
• Execute cargo handling workflows in real time
• Capture photos and documentation at first handling
• Manage exceptions and delays as they occur
• Communicate instantly across teams
• Access BI, Track & Trace and AI-powered support.

This brings real-time control directly to the warehouse floor, at doors, on ramps and across landside operations, ensuring decisions are made where the work happens, not after issues have already escalated.

Build your digital cargo stack with hermesONE modules

hermesONE includes a growing portfolio of applications that can be activated as required, allowing each operation to configure a technology stack that fits its specific needs.

BI & Data Lake

The BI & Data Lake module provides configurable dashboards and real-time data modelling across operational and financial datasets.

Users can access insights covering:

• Cargo volumes and throughput
• Cargo iQ milestones and SLA performance
• Truck and door processing
• Warehouse utilisation
• Finance and service delivery.

This transforms operational data into a strategic asset, supporting faster and more confident decision-making.

dnata have used the Hermes platform to unify data from multiple systems operating across their global network. Custom APIs were built to feed a central data lake, providing a single, consistent view of operational and financial performance across locations. This eliminated data silos, improved reporting consistency and enabled network-wide visibility and comparison.

Track & Trace

Designed for both handlers and agents, Track & Trace improves communication and reduces inefficiencies by providing instant shipment availability and status information. The result is fewer wasted journeys, reduced delays and lower CO₂ emissions.

Companion Photo Capture

A lightweight Android application enables warehouse teams to capture photos during cargo handling. Images related to damage or documentation requests are automatically linked to the AWB and shared with stakeholders in real time through hermesONE.

Landside Management (in partnership with Nallian)

Through integration with Nallian, hermesONE extends visibility beyond the warehouse to cover truck movements and landside processes. This improves throughput, coordination and customer experience across the full cargo journey.

Open integration through Hermes APIs

hermesONE is designed for open connectivity. Through a comprehensive API framework, the platform integrates with leading cargo technology providers including, Lodige (TMS, ASRS and ETV systems), Nallian (Community and Landside Management systems), SpeedCargo (CargoEye), Logistra AS (Cargonizer) and others. These integrations enable seamless data exchange, support automation initiatives and create the conditions for AI-driven optimisation across cargo operations.

Hermes AI Support Agent: Expertise when it’s needed

hermesONE includes an AI-powered Support Agent, trained on the Hermes platform and its operational logic, giving users a practical, in context Hermes expert at their fingertips.

Accessible via an in-platform chat, users can quickly:

• Ask how to complete specific tasks
• Interpret system messages and alerts
• Get guidance on operational exceptions
• Resolve issues without leaving the platform

This reduces reliance on manuals or support desks, shortens issue resolution on the warehouse floor and boosts confidence and consistency across teams.

Learning Management System (LMS)

The Hermes Learning Management System supports continuous professional development for hermesONE users. Role-based training content helps teams build system knowledge, onboard efficiently and stay aligned with new features as the platform evolves.

A connected future for air cargo operations

Hermes is committed to building a paperless ecosystem where systems communicate openly, processes flow seamlessly and data becomes a true operational advantage.

hermesONE is more than a software platform. It creates the conditions for stable operations today and flexible growth tomorrow, so cargo organisations can modernise progressively, before operational pressure forces reactive change.

Scalable. Mobile-first. AI-powered. Cloud-native.

And built by cargo experts, for cargo experts.

The Hermes ecosystem is built for range. Some stations move 15 tonnes a month; others push more than 200,000. Same platform. Same outcomes: faster turns, fewer exceptions, steadier operations, happier airline customers. The biggest gains in cargo handling aren’t purely about scale. They’re about flow, first-time pass, and control. 

The myth: “Low volume doesn’t justify a system” 

Low doesn’t mean simple. A smaller station still runs acceptance, build/break, messaging, handovers, storage moves, security checks, and exceptions. The operational pain is fixed: re-keying, handoffs, status chasing, late updates, and avoidable rework. Hermes removes those frictions regardless of how many tonnes you push. 

What actually drives ROI 

1. First-time pass: Clean capture at acceptance, smart validations, straight-through messaging. 
2. Exception containment: Earlier detection of mismatches; fewer “where is my cargo?” calls; quicker close-outs. 
3. Predictable turnaround: Standardised workflows and live status for tighter ramps and steadier door/slot use. 
4. Data you can trust: Single-point capture and consistent events for better decisions, faster. 
5. Staff ramp-up: Role-based screens and simple flows shorten time to productivity. 
6. Airline experience: Clear milestones and proactive updates reduce escalations. 
7. Future-ready operations: API-first and community integrations make change plug-and-play. 

How it plays at different ends of the scale 

~200 t/year (single station, lean team) 

• Do the job once: capture at the counter, auto-enrich, auto-message. 
• Keep the day calm: fewer detours, fewer callbacks, clear “what’s next”. 
• Look bigger than you are: consistent service, reliable status, tidy handovers. 
• Room to grow: add modules and connections as traffic or customer mix changes — no rebuilds. 

2M+ t/year (multi-station, complex mix) 

• Throughput under pressure: smoother build/break, smarter door and ULD control, fewer blockages. 
• Network-level visibility: standard events across stations, faster issue isolation, cleaner cross-dock moves. 
• SLA assurance: KPIs in the flow, so teams can act, not just report. 
• Integration at scale: customs, CCS, airline systems, warehouse automation straight-through, not swivel-chair. 

The HLT effect, summarised 

• Less re-keying → fewer errors → fewer exceptions. 
• Clear statuses → fewer calls → more predictable turns. 
• Consistent UI → faster ramp-up → steadier rosters. 
• Reliable data → better planning → calmer ops. 

Implementation without the drama 

Start with acceptance and warehouse. Turn on straight-through messaging. Add billing, ULD, door control, or extra integrations when you’re ready. Same platform, same data model, no dead ends. Teams feel the lift immediately, and not after a long transformation. 

Hermes works – and it’s worth it – at every volume.