JAL and Nihon Unisys Jointly Develop Cargo Weighing System

Japan Airlines (JAL) and Nihon Unisys Ltd. (NUL) have jointly developed a system that uses IC (integrated circuit) tags to determine a cargo container's weight prior to loading.

The IC tags, with embedded information, are affixed to cargo containers so they can be "read" by dedicated, wireless RFID (radio frequency identification) terminals installed on forklift trucks.  Information registered at each airport is then sent to JALDOM, the airline's domestic cargo information and handling system, via a Tokyo server, and used to calculate aircraft weight and balance.

The system is being introduced at 13 Japanese domestic airports after trials in 2006 at JAL's cargo warehouse at Kagoshima, showed that the system improved the efficiency of cargo handling without any degradation in safety.

Previously, at small domestic airports containers were weighed and their information was inputted manually into JALDOM, and checked several times in order to prepare the aircraft's load plan for each flight.  So JAL believes this new system will substantially reduce manual steps and increase efficiency.

JAL says inquires should be directed to one's local JAL office via: www.jal.co.jp/en/information/inter/branch.  02-23-2007.

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