Vaasahuolinta’s Dan-Erik Rönn and Andy Dang agree that Finnair Cargo’s web-booking is one of the easiest electronic cargo booking systems to use. On the left, Timo Laitila of Finnair Cargo’s Vaasa unit.

Since the end of last year, Finnair Cargo has been testing its new electronic cargo booking system, known as web-booking, together with Vaasahuolinta Ltd and a few other forwarding companies. The system has been fine-tuned to make it easier to use, based on feedback from these firms.

“I use four different web-booking programmes, and Finnair Cargo’s programme is one of the most user-friendly,” says Andy Dang of Vaasahuolinta. He says it only takes about half an hour to learn to use the system, even if one has never used such a programme before.
Vaasahuolinta, which is located adjacent to Vaasa airport on Finland’s west coast, was chosen as one of the pilot companies because it sends a variety of air freight shipments around the world, for instance spare parts for ship engines, and has customers who may have cargo booking requests at any time of the day or night.

“We have received a lot of valuable feedback from Vaasahuolinta, which we’ve used to make the web-booking system more user-friendly,” says Timo Laitila of Finnair Cargo’s Vaasa unit.

Book a shipment at any time

For Vaasahuolinta, web-booking is a way to serve customers better and faster. Freight reservations can be made at any time, 24/7.
“If a customer calls on Saturday evening when I’m getting ready to take a sauna to say they need a spare part right away, I can take care of it immediately from my home PC,” says Dan-Erik Rönn, CEO of Vaasahuolinta.

Forwarding companies log into the system using their own codes. The system recognises the client and applies the prices agreed under their contract. The customer fills out the information and can quickly see whether there is space on a flight, when the shipment will be sent and when it will arrive.
A customer needing a rapid delivery can breathe a sigh of relief within less than 20 minutes of calling the forwarder.

Speeding up regular deliveries

Web-booking gives forwarding companies better means to track packages. Every morning, Vaasahuolinta checks the status of the previous day’s deliveries, explains Dang.
“We can react rapidly to changes, which are inevitable in this business. We can also now tell our customers more rapidly about the status of their shipments. That information is crucial to them.”

Web-booking is very useful for firms that regularly send similar deliveries to the same destination. The system stores all the default information, making it quick and easy to fill in the forms. Alongside web-booking, Finnair Cargo freight reservations can still also be done by phone, email and by filling in an online booking request form on Finnair Cargo web site.