Drones – Changing The Face Of Delivery Sector

The evolution of the internet has been continuing over the years now. Whether it is online shopping, food delivery, shipping packages or grocery runs the consumers base is relying on fast and doorstep deliveries. Drones are expected to play a crucial role in the expansion of the retail market in the coming years. Drones could allow accelerating the deliveries at a lesser cost with more accuracy.

According to a research firm Gartner, the drone market has shown massive growth in 2017 and they are increasing operational efficiency in many industries. Drone unit sales grew an estimated 60 percent last year to 2.2 million and revenue grew 36 percent to 4.5 billion globally.

What Can Drones Do For The Industry?

Retail

Drones have received mixed criticism because of their associations with the invasion of privacy and armed deployment in war. There is another more positive side to coin which provides safety, protection, and relief from disasters. Drones can easily access areas to prove assistance where it is difficult for the relief workers to reach. Drones have the ability to take responsibilities where relief workers and manned vehicles fall short.

Healthcare

The future of drones in healthcare is very thought-provoking, it can act as a savior in time-critical situations. In one of the research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, the price of routine immunizations has risen by 80 percent in the last decade. Using drones for supply purpose would mean eliminating the maximum cost of delivery, resulting in an affordable price of vaccines for the needy.

Industrial Maintenance

When it comes to industrial operations, the use of drones is becoming extremely popular and significant, especially in the cases of hard-to-reach sites such as offshore rigs would greatly benefit from drones. Its ability to carry parts to and from the mainland with greater ease and cheaper than manned aircraft, moreover the drones improve the level of safety on board these structures, allowing engineers to survey and maintain the rig without having to put themselves in harm’s way.

Disaster Relief

Drones have received mixed criticism because of their associations with the invasion of privacy and armed deployment in war. There is another more positive side to coin which provides safety, protection, and relief from disasters. Drones can easily access areas to prove assistance where it is difficult for the relief workers to reach. Drones have the ability to take responsibilities where relief workers and manned vehicles fall short.

Who Will Be The Pioneers In The Drone Delivery Business?

Drones are considered as the future of the delivery for consumer good since it would reduce the cost per delivery and delivery time. According to a report of  Mckinsey, 40 percent savings in delivery cost could translate into a 15-20 percent increase in profit margin and reduce around 15 percent of the costing.

Let us have a look at the companies those who are already setting a mark in delivering products with drones

• Amazon – “Prime Air”

The e-commerce giant “Amazon” has been long publicizing its plan of delivery under thirty minutes by utilizing drones for delivery under a project called “Amazon Prime Air”.

Amazon drones are guided by GPS, can fly upto a height of 400 feet and carry package upto 5 pounds at a speed of 50 MPH. This patent of Amazon portrays a multi-level fulfillment center accommodating both inbound and outbound delivery drones. Prime Air has the facility of multiple levels, with multiple landing and takeoff locations. The project is still in the development stage, Amazon is hoping that they will start drone deliveries in the near future.

• FedEx

FedEx is a renowned package delivery service considering drones for the modernization of their services. They are planning to convert their trucks into aerial unmanned vehicles, with take-off and a landing zone. As of now, their plans are to use drones for the partial delivery, when the driver is the area close to the customer to avoid any further traffic hold-ups and delays. This will help to speed up the delivery process and cut down the fuel bills.

• Google / Alphabet – ‘Project Wing’

As a direct response to Amazon’s Prime Air, In the year 2014 pre-Alphabet Google announced the project wing, with an investment of $35m into research of unmanned flights and the potential of drones as a potential of delivery.

Project Wing has been cleared by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct testing with a view to rolling out these services by next year, in direct competition with Bezos’ online retail giant. These tests carried out by Google will not only focus only deliveries but will also look into improving the use of drones for industrial inspections and emergency services. However, the USP of Alphabet’s ‘Project Wing’ is the delivery drones which they claim will provide vendors with an advantage through swift delivery times, attracting increasingly convenience driven customers.

Drones are indeed a big leap in the field of deliveries but as excited as we are for receiving our parcels delivered by the air drones, it still has a long way to go! Jungleworks “TIDA” is fully automated drone aiming to reduce delivery time and cost. We have just taken a step forward in simplifying the delivery operations with modern drones.

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