CargoForwarder Global’s ‘Spotlight On…’ series highlights the very varied job areas within the air cargo industry. When it comes to smoothly transporting air cargo from one part of the globe to the other, technology plays a huge role, and one that is growing and changing along with market requirements and regulations. This week, Radhesh Menon, VP Product Management and Strategy for Air Cargo at IBS Software, takes us through his daily work, industry experience and offers advice for those looking to forge a career in air cargo.
CFG: What is your current function and company? And what are your responsibilities?
RM: I am VP Product Management and Strategy at IBS Software. My role is primarily on the forward-looking aspects of IBS Software’s cargo and logistics business such as leading the product management function as well as the product roadmap of our industry leading iCargo solution, product-based consulting, identifying and fostering growth initiatives and commercial aspects (such as pricing) for our offerings.
CFG: What does a normal day look like for you? (Or is there such a thing?)
RM: The question is very apt – what is a ‘normal’ day, I wonder? When I am not travelling, my day starts pretty early. I am a slow starter, and this helps me get into the day’s work smoothly. My working day – nowadays (thankfully) back in office all days of week – is a mix of daily chores (chasing up emails, to-do’s, meetings, etc.), some ‘me time’ where I catch up on industry news, work on things that are important but not urgent and, of course, some office networking – including the customary cups of coffee with colleagues. I try to mix things up as much as possible, so that I can get a little bit of a lot of things done in a day.
CFG: How long have you been in the air cargo industry, and what brought you to it?
RM: I have spent pretty much my whole working life (around 2 decades) in air cargo – not directly, but in software-related roles. I joined IBS Software when the company was making the quantum leap from being a software services house to a product driven business. We had identified a set of business verticals within travel and logistics that were underleveraged in terms of technology and set out to create innovative software products on new gen technology. One of them happened to be cargo and I was fortunate enough to be part of the very first cargo team in IBS Software.
CFG: What do you enjoy most about your job?
RM: I love problem solving and developing new ideas from scratch and seeing them mature into solutions that solve real world problems. In that sense, I couldn’t have asked for a better job profile as every day presents unique opportunities to do just that. Of course, everything is not always great – it wouldn’t be a job otherwise, I’d be having too much fun. But I do believe that I am guilty of enjoying doing what I do.
CFG: Where do you see the greatest challenges in our industry?
RM: I think the complexity of the industry is its greatest challenge. From the outside, you would not be blamed for thinking of air cargo as a fairly simple business of moving boxes from A to B. But the process is quite complex due to the industry’s highly fragmented nature – every shipment journey involves several touch points spanning multiple stakeholders. Keeping all these stakeholders in sync and perfectly tuned to the shipment transportation plan is no simple task.
This is also an industry that is subject to a lot of regulatory compliance scrutiny, and this adds another layer of complexity. Add to this, the extremely volatile nature of the business and dependency on factors like geopolitics, trade climate and state of the global economy, and you have got a business that needs to be on its toes all the time.
The good news is that there is always a good problem to solve – and there is a growing appetite for innovative solutions using technology to bring greater efficiencies, to optimize asset utilization, enable effective partnerships, bring in better yields and to speed up the process. These are what drive IBS Software’s product roadmap and we use every tool at our disposal – digital connectivity, analytics and AI, customer experience enablers and so on to deliver these innovative solutions.
CFG: What advice would you give to people looking to get into the air cargo industry? Any particular training they should aim for?
RM: I think first, is to realize the immense potential for doing innovative things. Air Cargo is such a volatile business and its constantly changing business landscape offers immense opportunities for creating new solutions – it’s perpetually like a greenfield startup. My advice would be to walk into this industry with eyes wide open and you will find a lot of things that you can truly make a difference in – be it in technology, business process or any specific business function.
CFG: If the air cargo industry were a film/book, what would its title be?
RM: Never Say NeverThank you for your views, Radhesh.
If you would like to share your personal air cargo story with our CargoForwarder Global readers, feel free to send your answers to the above questions to cargoforwarderglobal@kopfpilot.at We look forward to shining a spotlight on your job area, views, and experiences.
