How does it feel when the Amazon parcel isn’t delivered in a day? How does it feel if the Zomato order you’ve been waiting for is delayed? How does it feel if the gift you sent to your loved ones reaches after their birthday? Of course, it isn’t a good feeling, right?
Back in time all the processes, from manufacturing to delivery to dispatch, everything was done manually. This not only made the entire process tedious and cumbersome but also led to unexpected delays, human errors, and, in turn, poor customer experience. But that is not the case now! With the technological revolution creeping in, long gone are the days of conventional methodologies and processes. Now is the time to witness the marvels of AI, ML, BigData, IoT and so on.
Owing to the tech wave taking place across the globe, the supply chain sector is undergoing a sea change with respect to its structural and functional operations. It is shocking to know that as per the World Economic Forum (WEF), 85 million packages and documents are delivered around the world daily. Apart from fulfilling these staggering number of deliveries, studies suggest that last-mile delivery is typically the most time-consuming and comprises an estimated 50 percent of the total logistical costs. Thus, driven by the ever-increasing product demands and the urge to provide superior customer experience, supply chains are now been backed by technology in order to make them more efficient, seamless, cost-effective, and time-saving.
Not only this, but one of the main merits of the tech revolution is that it reduced direct human intervention, so as to make the processes fast, and error-free. Whether it be the sensors in the company or the real-time monitoring systems in place, though all these are devised by humans but are much more sensitive, accurate, and robust. Even in the case of the supply chain management sector, it is no different. Several amazing technological innovations into this domain in order to make boost its operational efficiency. And one such tech wonder is the use of Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Does this term sound familiar? If not, then probably you would be knowing it by its nickname – Drones.
For those not aware of it, drones are defined as “an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. They form an important part of an unmanned aircraft system, which includes adding a ground-based controller and a system of communications with the UAV.” But it is astonishing to know that drones are not a recent discovery. The history of drones dates back to the Kargil War when it was used for the first time for military surveillance and action. In more recent times, several companies like Zomato, Dunzo, Swiggy, and Amazon are some of the companies that are extensively using this technology to deliver their products in a wink of an eye.
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There are many added advantages of using drone deliveries, like:
- Time-Saving
Since drones are semi-autonomous and once fed with an address, surpass the traffic, congestion, or other such issues, they help save a lot of time.
- Cost Effective
At first, the idea of using drones for deliveries might seem pricey but when delved deeper, the ROI over the investment made, makes it totally worthwhile. Not only are they cheaper when compared to other traditional last-mile delivery options but also, help save the cost of fuel and the manual labor needed otherwise.
- Autonomous and Safe
Once det to a target, the drones fly autonomously without any scope of human intervention. Backed by advanced GPS systems and robust sensors for exception handling, these drones make sure that the packages are safe and well on time.
- Increased Delivery Span
“Where humans can’t technology can”, and that’s exactly what the drones do. Whether it be geographical differences or mass movements, there are many areas that are inaccessible or difficult to reach by humans. But that isn’t the case with drones, thus increasing the delivery span of a company.
- Sustainable
When talking about technology, sustainability, and environmental friendliness comes along. Even in this case, since fuel usage is eliminated, it helps bring down the carbon footprint greatly, while also ensuring zero wastage in the entire process.
- Emergency Responder
One of the most important uses of drones is as emergency responders. Whether it be in the defence services or during the pandemic, drones have been extensively used to deliver medicines and other paramedical help in no time, thus saving a lot of lives.
- Ease of Inspection
Be it due to a fault in the process or a human error made, there are times when unexpected delays occur and, in such cases, analysing the same becomes very crucial. However, in the case of manual deliveries, the inspection takes a lot more time, especially because of the lack of available data. But, again, this isn’t the case with drones as every bit of information is stored and sent to the central systems that can be easily used in crisis times.
- Scope of Research
Apart from the operational aspect, drones provide an amazing scope of research. From the effects of weather on SCM to the Time motion study, everything could easily be conducted basis the data collected via drones.
And thus, owing to all these and much more that drones offer, it is imperative to say that drones are definitely the future of the supply chain and logistics in India.