SEPTEMBER - 20238 IN MY OPINIONHOW DRONES WILL (RE)DISRUPT THE SUPPLY CHAIN!Back in 2018, Drone technology was typically reserved for military application, emerging trend for different levels of surveillance and general consumer fun (taking youtube to another level). There was a lot of hype of this technology transforming the logistic Industry. Mainly around autonomous transportation. 3 years on, we are still hearing the how autonomous technology, drones, AI will revolutionise this sector but our sky's are still empty and our roads are still clogged with drivers who think they are Michael Schumacher.WHAT HAS HAPPENED? Well, in the last 18months, companies have really stagnated their investment into new technology. For most CIOs it is has been about keep the lights on and their people in jobs, rather than trying to be pioneering. However, I can see this changing and changing rapidly especially in area of supply chain.Supply chain has taken a focal role of recent. Most APAC leader have stated their supply chains have been under increasing stresses in the last year. With the global recovery well under way, leaders are now more confident about global economic recovery compared to earlier this year.As a result, Demand has increased, not just due to addition stimulus money being pushed into the consumer channels but also an increase in consumer spending confidence.This has resulted in a huge inventory rebuilding cycling as during the peak of the pandemic company decided to deplete the stock they had. Its not just a case of flicking the production switch on, bring supply back inline with demand. Even if that was possible, globally there is shortage of skilled labour force. We can see how in Europe they are racing towards a driver shortage crisis of 150,000 unfilled jobs, according to new research from Transport Intelligence. This all results in extension to delivery lead times. What are CIOs and heads of supply chain are doing about this? How does autonomous or drone technology help them?We are seeing that the market for autonomous contact delivery is expected to reach into the billions by 2030. Global research and advisor firm Gartner estimates that drone delivery can reduce last mile delivery costs by 70 percent, but also add in less carbon emissions during the delivery process. Sustainability is now a big deciding factor in new technology adoption.We are seeing some leading companies now actively competing for a solution within this supply chain space. Alphabet (Wing), Amazon (Prime Air), FedEx (Wing partnership), DHL (Parcelcopter), and UPS (Flight Forward) are all developing drone programs focused on last mile delivery. They are hindered with legalisation on both direct and in direct line of sight drone services, direct to consumer. But a depot-to-depot service is less regulated and has the applicability for larger cargo carrying drones. As we see the real-world impact on the supply chain and the reliance upon human labour impacting people and governments alike, history tells us that these hurdles are about to become smaller.BY YASSAR HANEEF, TECHNOLOGY DELIVERY DIRECTOR, FINE HYGIENIC HOLDINGYassar Haneef
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