Blog: Are drones that can deliver in 30 minutes the future of fulfilment?

Drones have long been touted as the future of speedy fulfilment, and earlier this month Amazon came a step closer to delivering packages within 30 minutes as it prepares to test drones at its research centre in Cambridge.

The technology is even in use as part of a small-scale trial by DHL in Germany, where the company is using unmanned helicopters to deliver medication and other urgent goods to a World Heritage wetland following a successful nine-month research project.

The increased fulfilment options that drones offer retailers, alongside the potential cost savings of using unmanned drones for delivery, combine to make the technology potentially very attractive to retailers.

Challenges

But there are several, quite large challenges that retailers need to consider. Perhaps most difficult are the current, extremely tight aviation laws that govern the skies above most cities and countries around the world.

Then there are the logistical considerations of having these devices buzzing around our skies, safety issues and the weight limits the relatively small drones have at the moment. The practicality of delivery is also a potential challenge, when not all customers live or work within easy reach of a clear field of patch of ground for landing.

In a recent Retail Week Supply Chain report, retailers stress taking a pragmatic view when it comes to technology and automation, looking carefully at the suitability of new technologies for their businesses. The supply chain head of a leading high street retailer says: “The priorities at the moment seem to be: how do we drive technology, digitalisation and omnichannel capabilities?”

There is a strong consensus regarding the benefits of warehouse automation, but a number of retailers cite radio-frequency identification (RFID) as an example of a technological solution that will not work for all.

So what about drones? Are robots that can deliver orders within 30 minutes the answer to fulfilment in the future? The technology is still in its early stages, even with DHL in Germany, and developers have a long way to go to turn this niche service into something that can be used on a commercial scale.