Japan Airlines transforming ground operations with real-time dolly visibility

By implementing Hoopo's Fleet Intelligence Solution across its fleet of 3,040 dollies at Narita International Airport, Japan Airlines reduced annual dolly search time by an estimated 14,000 hours, right-sized its dolly fleet by approximately 7%, and projects annual cost savings exceeding ¥70 million.

Managing more than 3,000 mobile assets (dollies used to transport cargo and baggage containers) in a busy international airport environment requires precise coordination and real-time operational management. As operations grew in scale and complexity, asset visibility became a strategic priority.

Deployment of the hoopoSense tracking devices began in December 2023 and was completed in approximately three months, providing real-time visibility across the entire dolly fleet at Narita Airport.

By digitizing the management of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) dollies at one of Japan's leading international airports, Japan Airlines has established a data-driven operational foundation that supports greater efficiency, reduces unnecessary equipment movement, and lowers environmental impact.

Operational Challenges

• Limited real-time visibility into dolly location and availability

• Dolly search times taking up to 30 minutes in some cases

• Manual visual verification and phone coordination across ground teams

• Limited operational data made it difficult to determine the optimal dolly fleet size

Narita Airport covers a vast operational area with multiple dolly storage locations. Without real-time visibility, locating available equipment required physically searching across the airport. Given the strict time constraints of airport operations, this reduced operational efficiency and created additional coordination effort.

Cost-Related Challenges

• Excess dolly inventory due to limited visibility into real-time operational status

• Increased dolly procurement and inspection costs

• Increased CO₂ emissions caused by unnecessary vehicle movement and excessive dolly relocations during equipment searches

Extended search times resulted in additional vehicle movement throughout the airport, increasing fuel consumption and environmental impact.

As operations became more complex and performance requirements increased, implementing a data-driven visibility solution became essential to support more sustainable and efficient ground operations.

The Hoopo Solution

Deployment of the Hoopo Solution began in December 2023 and was completed across all 3,040 dollies within approximately three months.

Each dolly is equipped with an industrial IoT device called the hoopoSense tracking device. Designed for outdoor airport environments, the device provides highly accurate real-time location and container load status. Its long battery life helps minimize maintenance costs.

The operations team can monitor the following in real time through Hoopo's web management platform:

• Loaded dollies (unavailable)

• Bare dollies (available)

Furthermore, Japan Airlines leveraged Hoopo's API to develop its proprietary asset management system, DOLYS.* Built on Hoopo's real-time data, DOLYS was designed as a simple and practical system tailored to JAL’s operational requirements.