Miami
Airport’s recently activated MICS (Miami International Cargo System), the first
totally integrated automated cargo processing system of its kind in the U.S., permits (ACTIVE) all
documentation to be processed electronically and tracks(ACTIVE) all shipments in and out of Miami.It links(ACTIVE) the airlines,
freight forwarders, brokers, customs and the Department of agriculture. British
Telecom Applied Technology, developer of MICS, based(ACTIVE) its design on BTAT’s pioneering LACES (London
Airport Cargo EDP System) which was
installed (PASSIVE) at London Heathrow Airport in 1969, and LACES’
descendants, ACP 80(1981) and 90(1987).
2. When LACES was installed (PASSIVE), there was(ACTIVE) an immediate drop
in average clearance times for cargo at Heathrow from four days to less than an
hour, with 85% taking only 30 minutes. Clearance time for trans-shipments was(ACTIVE) virtually
instantaneous.
3. LACES became(ACTIVE) obsolescent when
the airlines began(ACTIVE) installing
their own on line tracking systems tailored to their own specific needs.
Usually these could not exchange(ACTIVE) data with other systems, including LACES, so the airlines had to enter (ACTIVE) consignment
details separately into both the airport system and their own system. But
advances in computer technology and software now make(ACTIVE) it possible to provide interfaces that allow(ACTIVE) data to flow freely
between different systems.