Who are you?
My name is Mark Vijlbrief and I have worked at Districon since April 2022. I have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering at the Delft University of Technology. During my master I followed the track Transport Engineering and Logistics where I mainly focussed on the logistics on and around airports. By combining this with my interest in data analytics I have done several data orientated projects in my career for several large transport companies like KLM Cityhopper and the NS (Dutch railways) but also large airports like Amsterdam Schiphol.
Within Districon I work at the Air Cargo & Parcels department as a consultant and analyst. Here I mainly perform data analysis and dashboarding projects within the air cargo industry. This varies from analysing flight schedules to identify the different cargo flows, to developing dashboards for our clients to visualize and optimize their systems.
My experiences
Since my start at Districon I have done several different projects within the air cargo industry, something I appreciate within my work. What keeps fascinating me is the immense variety of cargo which is send through the air. Where most people associate air cargo with e-commerce and parcels, many more types of freight are loaded into aircraft. From flowers to exclusive cars, whenever I walk through the warehouse of a freight handler, I am amazed by the different types of freight I see around me.
Air cargo is more than just transport through the air. It rarely happens that the end destination of the freight is the airport where it lands. This makes the landside transport of air freight an important part of the entire air cargo industry. A part of the industry which is completely different than the aviation industry. These different cultures make my work very interesting and provide a welcoming variety of problems to solve. Especially projects where both landside and airside aspects are touched are very challenging and educational.
Another aspect of my work which I appreciate is the interaction with clients. I enjoy sitting down with a client, determine the actual problem they would like to solve and then solve it by using their own data. This aspect is reflected in my dashboarding projects where I visualize different flows of systems for a client by the means of a dashboard. This dashboard can then be used to optimize their operations.
Vision of the future
The last few years were very interesting for the air cargo industry. The pandemic, global politics and staff shortages have shown us that the industry must be dynamic to remain strong. I expect that in the coming years the industry will work on becoming more robust to handle these kinds of drastic events.
Just like in any other industry, sustainability will play an import part in the years to come. This will go beyond making the aircraft and trucks more sustainable. Think for example about handling freight more energy efficient or increasing the load rate of trucks and aircraft. I look forward to playing a role in these changes.
Next nominee
What I like about Districon is that we do a large variety of work within different departments. I would therefore like to nominate Linde Tangelder to tell us more about her experience within the Sustainability department in the next ‘in the spotlight’. I look forward to her vision and insights.