Cargo 2000 is offering a new low cost joining fee to make its air cargo quality management system accessible to small and medium sized freight forwarders around the world.

Designed to help companies of all sizes in the air cargo chain reduce costs, improve service standards and enhance customer satisfaction, Cargo 2000 already has 46 major airlines, freight forwarders, ground handling and trucking companies and IT providers as members.

The new category of Associate membership allows freight companies with operations in up to five countries or 20 cities to join Cargo 2000 for a cost of only US$5,000 per annum.

Mick Fountain, Chairman of Cargo 2000, said: 'We are a not-for-profit group that has always been about producing a quality management solution to benefit all players in the international air cargo industry and, most importantly, customers. By reducing the joining fee for small and medium sized companies from the current level of $10,000-$25,000, we are giving these businesses the opportunity to be part of a program that will produce measurable benefits within their companies and establish themselves in the minds of customers as quality-driven organizations.

'As a member of Cargo 2000, these companies will have access to our Master Operating Plan that has re-engineered the air cargo transportation process from shipper to consignee. This sits at the heart of an industry-wide process control and reporting system that in turn drives data management and corrective action systems. By reducing the number of individual processes in the air cargo supply chain from 40 to just 19, Cargo 2000 is less labor intensive and improves the processes for managing shipments in a paperless environment. It substantially reduces time spent managing irregularities, such as service failures, cuts the time required for manual track and trace procedures and leads to a reduction in service recovery costs. That makes the $5,000 cost of joining Cargo 2000 a great investment for these businesses.'

Cargo 2000's membership is continuing to grow at all levels. Since last October, Asiana Airlines, Etihad Crystal Cargo, JAL Cargo, Kale Consultants, Singapore Airlines Cargo and TNT Freight Management have all joined the group.