IN Brief:
- Menzies Aviation is trialling automated cargo measurement and ULD contour checking at London Heathrow.
- CIND's Dimensioner In-Motion captures size, weight, stackability, and shipment data without stopping freight.
- ContourCheck creates a live ULD model and identifies contour or overhang problems before aircraft loading.
Menzies Aviation has begun a proof-of-concept trial at London Heathrow using automated cargo measurement and build-up technology to capture freight data earlier and identify unit load device problems before cargo reaches aircraft loading.
The project is being conducted with computer-vision specialist CIND and combines two systems addressing different stages of cargo handling. Dimensioner In-Motion measures freight as it passes through the warehouse, while ContourCheck monitors cargo during ULD build-up.
Dimensioner In-Motion captures pallet dimensions, weight, stackability information, and shipment references without requiring the freight to stop for a separate measuring process. That provides planners with a more consistent dataset near the point at which cargo enters the handling operation.
The process addresses a common source of downstream disruption. Shipment dimensions may be entered manually or supplied earlier in the transport chain, and inaccuracies can survive until planners discover that the physical freight does not match the space, ULD, or aircraft allocation made for it.
Air cargo is constrained by more than gross weight. Volume, contour, loading position, stackability, door dimensions, and aircraft geometry can all determine whether a shipment fits the planned departure, so incorrect data can leave usable capacity empty or force late rework.
ContourCheck tackles that problem later in the warehouse. As cargo is built onto a ULD, the system creates a real-time visual model and compares the load against the approved aircraft contour, identifying possible overhang or dimensional problems before the unit is complete.
Finding an unsuitable configuration during build-up gives handlers more options than discovering it beside the aircraft. Cargo can be repositioned or the load rebuilt in the warehouse without using part of the limited ground time available around a scheduled departure.
The two systems therefore attack different types of waste. Early measurement improves the information used for planning, while contour monitoring reduces the chance that the physical build will create a problem after most of the handling work has already been completed.
Heathrow provides a demanding environment for the trial because cargo operations have to fit around fixed airline schedules and constrained airport capacity. Delays caused by a late load correction can affect warehouse labour, ramp activity, aircraft turnaround, and the availability of the shipment on its onward connection.
Menzies says the pilot will examine data quality, operational efficiency, warehouse flow, load accuracy, ULD utilisation, and flight safety. The company also intends to use the results to assess whether the systems are suitable for wider deployment across its cargo network.
That broader decision will depend on integration as much as measurement accuracy. Data has greater value when it passes directly into cargo-management and planning systems rather than creating another standalone application that supervisors must check manually.
Mixed freight will provide another test. Air-cargo warehouses handle regular pallets alongside irregular machinery, cartons, loose freight, and loads wrapped or secured in different ways, so a measurement system has to remain dependable when the physical objects are less predictable than a demonstration pallet.
Maintenance and calibration will also matter if the equipment moves beyond a pilot. Cameras, sensors, lighting, network connections, and software become part of the operating process, meaning reliability has to be judged over thousands of shipments rather than a successful sequence during installation.
The deployment reflects a broader pattern in logistics automation where relatively narrow tasks are being digitised before entire warehouses become autonomous. Measuring freight and checking ULD contours are repetitive, rules-based activities whose errors are costly, making them a more practical starting point than trying to automate every cargo-handling movement at once.
For Menzies, the commercial case will ultimately rest on measurable outcomes: fewer manual measurements, fewer loading corrections, better use of ULD volume, improved data quality, and enough saved handling time to justify the equipment and systems work.
The Heathrow trial will establish whether those gains survive live operating variability. If they do, automated measurement could become a relatively unobtrusive part of cargo handling — less visible than a warehouse robot, but potentially useful wherever poor dimensional data turns into wasted aircraft capacity.
