Case Studies
Devansh Bhikajee
March 23, 2026
2
Min
Read

How a Leading 4PL Company Strengthens Air Freight Operations and Customer Confidence with Portcast's Predictive Visibility

Learn how a leading 4PL uses Portcast to unify airline data, detect offloads earlier, and improve SLA-driven air freight operations across 100+ carriers.
How a Leading 4PL Company Strengthens Air Freight Operations and Customer Confidence with Portcast's Predictive Visibility

The Company

Janio is a Singapore-headquartered fourth-party logistics provider (4PL) that manages cross-border e-commerce flows across Southeast Asia, Oceania, and East Asia. The company serves medium to large-sized online retailers, marketplaces, and upstream logistics players that ship across multiple regional lanes.

Air freight is the dominant mode of transport for Janio's clients. With customers expecting high-speed delivery and real-time updates, Janio relies on accurate, consistent shipment information to support both operational teams and customer service.

To meet these expectations at scale, Janio uses Portcast to consolidate airline data, standardise event accuracy, and identify exceptions earlier across its air cargo operations.

The Challenges

Janio's biggest struggle was working with fragmented airline data and delayed exception awareness across its rapidly growing air freight network.

Fragmented Shipment Visibility

Janio works with a large and growing number of airlines. The team noted that the number of carriers expanded from roughly 20 to more than 100 as the business scaled. Each airline provided different data formats, quality levels, and update frequencies, which required operations teams to check multiple websites and manually interpret inconsistent information.

Need for Real-Time Updates

Janio's customers expect mid-mile visibility at a level comparable to more mature e-commerce markets. The company also has SLAs requiring that all events, including exceptions, be communicated as soon as they occur. Without a unified data source, staying ahead of these expectations became increasingly challenging.

Delayed Discovery of Offloads and Exceptions

Operational issues, such as partial or complete offloads and missing cargo pieces, were sometimes identified only after delays had already occurred. In one case, repeated offloads across multiple airlines at the same origin went unnoticed for several days, ultimately requiring Janio to charter a flight to clear accumulated cargo. Earlier detection would have allowed faster adjustments and prevented escalation.

The Solution

With Portcast, Janio consolidated its air-tracking workflows into a single, unified, real-time visibility platform.

Standardised Airline Event Data

Janio integrated Portcast's real-time air tracking into its own platform after validating Portcast's coverage and data quality over a month's worth of master air waybills. Portcast provides standardised, cleansed airline events that Janio uses as the mid-mile tracking layer for its clients.

Exception Insights Across Airlines

Portcast's exception management helps Janio interpret events, such as partial and complete offloads, more clearly than relying on airline status updates alone. This supports earlier awareness of upstream issues and prepares teams for downstream planning across customs, capacity, and customer communications.

Smooth Integration and Workflow Alignment

Integrating Portcast into Janio's system took only a few weeks. Both teams collaborated to refine exception triggers and ensure data was delivered in a format that Janio's operations teams could quickly interpret. This alignment ensured consistent use of Portcast's data across internal workflows.

The Impact

By standardising tracking data and identifying issues earlier, Portcast has enhanced Janio's air freight management and response to disruptions.

More Time for Operational Decision Making

With reliable, standardised data feeding directly into its platform, Janio's teams spend less time navigating airline portals and reconciling inconsistent information. This helps them focus on handling exceptions and supporting customers.

Earlier Visibility into Offloads

Portcast enables Janio to detect partial and complete offloads sooner, allowing the team to prepare downstream processes and avoid the ripple effects of delayed discovery. This earlier awareness supports more stable operations and reduces the likelihood of severe disruptions.

Better Informed Airline Selection

By observing exception patterns across airlines, Janio will be able to identify airlines that frequently offload or deliver inconsistent updates. This supports better decision-making when allocating shipments or adjusting capacity.

Stronger Customer Updates and SLA Alignment

Because Portcast provides accurate, real-time event updates, Janio is equipped to meet its visibility-related SLAs and communicate with clients promptly when changes or disruptions occur.

Testimonial

"Working with 50 to 100 airlines meant dealing with fragmented and inconsistent data. Portcast gives us a unified, standardised view so our teams can focus on insights and solving problems instead of checking multiple airline portals. Portcast also helps us understand partial and complete offloads much earlier. This allows us to plan downstream capacity with more confidence and has led to better decisions on which airlines we work with." 
— Karthik Pitani, Group Head of Strategy, Product and Engineering, Janio

Conclusion

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