Mumbai: Kale Consultants has delivered the world's first new-generation enterprise-wide cargo solution, CSPT, to Seoul-based Asiana Airlines, the 13^th largest airline in the world.

This is part of the multimillion-dollar contract signed between Asiana and Kale for procuring Kale's cargo solutions - Ambert and CSPT. This contract, signed in 2001, was for an end-to-end solution that Asiana Airlines will use to leverage the e-business economy to its competitive advantage.

Says Asiana Airlines CIO D NChoi: "The Asiana-Kale partnership has provided excellent results. CSPT not only meets the operational needs of a modern airline like ours, but also helps us deliver greater value to our customers. We chose Kale because of its excellence in product development, strong commitment to customer service and dedication to aviation industry. And we are happy that our choice proved right."

Says Kale managing director Vipul Jain: "We shared a vision with Asiana - to provide a world-class integrated cargo solution to the aviation industry. Today we are proud that our vision is realised. We are looking forward to its implementation at Seoul and consequent rollout in the air-cargo world."

The cargo solutions available currently are characterised by inflexible legacy systems and outdated technology. CSPT represents a new breed of cargo solutions covering the entire gamut of operations from flight scheduling, bookings, pricing, ULD tracking to revenue accounting, e-business, EDI to data warehousing. It is a flexible, modular, seamlessly integrated cargo system on a client server technology. This system has been designed to meet current and future business needs of the air cargo industry.

Adds Kale vice-president (cargo solutions) Peter O'Sullivan: "CSPT will provide airlines with a tighter control of flight planning through the allotment process and moving much of the decision-making away from operations to the earlier phases of the cargo logistics process." The implementation of CSPT at Asiana is expected to be completed this year.

Asiana Airlines is a leading Cargo carrier and one of the largest airlines in Asia. With a fleet size of 64 aircraft, Asiana plans to double its cargo carrying capacity within the next three years. Currently, it is ranked 17^th largest cargo carrier with over 2.75-million FTK (freight tonne kms) of business. Asiana's market is heavily Trans-Pacific and Asia Europe but it also carries freight intra-Asia, particularly to and from Japan and China. It has been innovative in its use of multi-modal transport, including sea-air and truck-air.

Kale Consultants is a leading IT solutions provider for the airline and banking industries. Leveraging three strategically located development centres in India, Kale is a global organisation with over 600 professionals, six international offices and customers in more than 20 countries across the world.

An end-to-end solutions provider, Kale offers business process outsourcing services, custom-made development, application management, and reengineering services. It also offers cutting-edge product solutions for the airlines, banking and healthcare industries.