The relationship between metal shelves and drones began to attract great interest when one of the global e-commerce giants announced a few months ago its intention to use drones to deliver products directly from the warehouse to the consumer’s door. A strategy with the potential to revolutionize urban logistics, one of the main bottlenecks in the growth of electronic commerce together with the high cost of the “last kilometer” (the “last mile”).
Although skepticism was also added to the expectation, this initiative comes from a company that is already operating with same-day delivery policies in various cities around the world, or modalities for free shipping with no minimum order. Something that just a few years ago had also aroused skepticism among the logistics sectors and that has finally proven to be a commercial success.
The use of drones, also called “remotely piloted aircraft systems” (RPAS), for commercial purposes is an emerging business that suffers from a lack of regulation. Such is the case, and such is the economic potential, that the European Union has already set to work to formulate a standard regulation, in response to estimates that indicate that, in the next 10 years, 10% of the aviation will correspond to drones, which would represent some 15 billion euros per year.
In Spain, the Minister of Public Works announced on July 4 a temporary regulation as the first step to facilitate the commercial use of this new technology. The final regulation will be developed over the next few months.
Certain specific uses are being the first to be regulated and approved, such as support in inspections of industrial facilities, assessment of damage to structures, firefighting, filming, etc.
With e-commerce growing each year at double-digit percentages, the pressure is also growing to find new ways to streamline urban logistics even more. Traffic jams, traffic lights, batch picking instead of individual order picking, etc. All this imposes delivery times that make it impossible to go further and hinder the objective of being able to offer deliveries in just a few hours from the time the order is placed on an e-commerce website, the merchandise is collected on the metal shelves with order picking, instead of batch picking, and shipped from the warehouse directly to the consumer.
Although the plan to use drones might seem premature, the main obstacle it faces is the need for adequate regulation in terms of security, especially if it requires flying over inhabited areas, as well as not interfering with protected airspaces. But everything indicates that in just a few years the sky could be plagued by drones with commercial uses, and with the intention of the European Union to favor the integration of drones or RPAS in the airspace from 2016.
A new logistics model, in which each order can be served individually and directly from the warehouse to the consumer, also places great demands on the productivity and effectiveness of the operation of the warehouses, which will require the use of efficient automated warehouses, which allow collect the goods directly from the metal racks, with the corresponding traceability, and taken by means of conveyor belts and transport systems to the collection points by drones. Greater logistical possibilities will also require high-density warehouses, with clad-rack warehouses, stacker cranes, miniload picking racks and storage space expansion systems such as industrial mezzanines or mezzanines and elevated walkways
Although skepticism was also added to the expectation, this initiative comes from a company that is already operating with same-day delivery policies in various cities around the world, or modalities for free shipping with no minimum order. Something that just a few years ago had also aroused skepticism among the logistics sectors and that has finally proven to be a commercial success.
The use of drones, also called “remotely piloted aircraft systems” (RPAS), for commercial purposes is an emerging business that suffers from a lack of regulation. Such is the case, and such is the economic potential, that the European Union has already set to work to formulate a standard regulation, in response to estimates that indicate that, in the next 10 years, 10% of the aviation will correspond to drones, which would represent some 15 billion euros per year.
In Spain, the Minister of Public Works announced on July 4 a temporary regulation as the first step to facilitate the commercial use of this new technology. The final regulation will be developed over the next few months.
Certain specific uses are being the first to be regulated and approved, such as support in inspections of industrial facilities, assessment of damage to structures, firefighting, filming, etc.
With e-commerce growing each year at double-digit percentages, the pressure is also growing to find new ways to streamline urban logistics even more. Traffic jams, traffic lights, batch picking instead of individual order picking, etc. All this imposes delivery times that make it impossible to go further and hinder the objective of being able to offer deliveries in just a few hours from the time the order is placed on an e-commerce website, the merchandise is collected on the metal shelves with order picking, instead of batch picking, and shipped from the warehouse directly to the consumer.
Although the plan to use drones might seem premature, the main obstacle it faces is the need for adequate regulation in terms of security, especially if it requires flying over inhabited areas, as well as not interfering with protected airspaces. But everything indicates that in just a few years the sky could be plagued by drones with commercial uses, and with the intention of the European Union to favor the integration of drones or RPAS in the airspace from 2016.
A new logistics model, in which each order can be served individually and directly from the warehouse to the consumer, also places great demands on the productivity and effectiveness of the operation of the warehouses, which will require the use of efficient automated warehouses, which allow collect the goods directly from the metal racks, with the corresponding traceability, and taken by means of conveyor belts and transport systems to the collection points by drones. Greater logistical possibilities will also require high-density warehouses, with clad-rack warehouses, stacker cranes, miniload picking racks and storage space expansion systems such as industrial mezzanines or mezzanines and elevated walkways
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Regardless of the obvious difficulties and complications present in highly populated urban areas, initiatives already exist for the use of autonomous navigation drones in developing countries where the lack of infrastructure prevents the delivery of essential goods, such as medicines and basic food, to rural areas that are difficult to access. Or cover such needs in areas affected by a natural disaster.
ATOX Storage Systems is a manufacturer of high-quality metal racking, and designs and manufactures warehouse automation systems and semi-automatic systems for handling tasks with pallets and for picking tasks with medium and light loads.
ATOX Storage Systems is a manufacturer of high-quality metal racking, and designs and manufactures warehouse automation systems and semi-automatic systems for handling tasks with pallets and for picking tasks with medium and light loads.