Mom, there is a drone at the door...






Image result for mom there is a drone at the door + cartoon
Drone Deliveries:The way forward for the Supply Chain.





Have you been mastering the art of just-in-time (JIT) delivery for years now? Before it used to take a week or so to get products from your suppliers and distributors' warehouses to the End user Customer . Then it was a couple days. And, now the norm has dropped to few hours thanks to vendor-managed inventory programs and campus hubs that keep suppliers and OEM operations in close vicinity to each other.





But what will the future bring next?


Imagine what your JIT delivery strategy could look like if, say, drones were able to deliver products bypassing all the traffic on local roads? What if your deliveries could be made in less than 30 minutes?





Source: AmazonThe possibility may not be too far off. And, when it comes to fruition inbound and outbound logistics, and supply chain strategies will have to evolve. Several top-tier companies are exploring delivery-by-drone opportunities, and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering safety and regulation issues associated with drone use.





In November, for example, Amazon unveiled its futuristic plan to deliver packages, via drone, to your doorstep in 30 minutes. CEO Jeff  Bezos told Charlie Rose and 60 Minutes. Back in the summer, Google's Project Wing project caught attention. The Atlantic reported in August that Google's drone delivery program has been running for two years at its long-range reaserach lab Google X and parallels the company's other robotics initiatives. Google's idea: Deliver products across a city in a few minutes, according to the report.





Image result for dhl parcelcopter'And, DHL has its fingers in the test pot, too. The company announced in September its plans to launch a pilot project on the North Sea island of Juist. For starters, the company will focus on getting medications and other urgently needed goods by its branded DHL parcelcopter drone, making it the first autonomous delivery flights by parcelcopter authorized in Europe.





It's worth noting, too, who's experimenting with this. Logistics provider DHL seems like an obvious user and beneficiary of furthering the technology and cutting delivery times. Online retailer Amazon has a lot at stake, too. But, Google? It makes you wonder what the search giant's play will be, and how it could shake up the current status quo.





How viable these projects will be over the long-term? 


How they will be regulated? 


How soon they could find their way into the our supply chain? 





Well having used Google and Amazon's same day delivery products and learning a bit from the distribution "experts" 





There a more then a few lessons we can take away. But the simple answer is that automation has benefits whether at the software or hardware level. 





We many not have drones today , but suffice to say the discussion has turned from if to when and 


how it will affect your business tomorrow.









But for those that are ready Staples  Yes Staples Sells Drones has a decent deal on a quadcopter. And we are ready to program and send your first package today. (You will have to get FAA clearance later..)




















For more information on TSH or MDS call The Systems House, Inc. at 1-800- MDS-5556. Or send a message to sales@tshinc.com


Click here and tell us how we can help you with your business solutions.




Popular posts from this blog

Punchout - Moving EDI into Real Time

Image
Everyone talks about the benefits of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and how it makes it so much easier to send data between different systems. We can debate the merits and costs and see what makes sense, But often many people overlook a major issue with the current EDI model.   Because it was based on an offline model all of EDI is based on files and responses. So the concept is you send me a file I send you a message saying I got your file and then I respond with any issues and or status updates. In todays real time world, that just doesn't always work. And while EDI is here to stay at least for a while, Today we wanted to introduce to you another alternative that offers similar functionality with a number of added benefits. The biggest being it allows for real time interactivity. Punchout Catalogs - Why is Mike Tyson Involved in Purchasing?  Punchout catalogs are websites that are maintained by a procurement vendor, In this model that would be you. These websites ar...
Read more

Do you know what your Inventory (D)ogs are?

Image
TSH Releases Inventory Management Enhancements  The ultimate goal for all distributors is to:    Minimize Inventory Carrying Costs While Maximizing Service Levels.  The well-known ABC classification is simple-to-understand and easy-to-use. However, ABC analysis is based on only single measurement such as annual dollar usage. It has been recognized that other criteria are also important.  The MDS system now offer multiple methods for finding those "D" or dog items - If they dont make it to the A,B,C levels in your inventory ranking convention wisdom says.... They are your dogs items and should be removed from inventory as they are not making you any money..  MDS offer options for:  Ranking by a Percentage or an actual number I.E Top 100 or Top 10% - whichever makes more sense for your business.  Each Criteria is then weighted and used to help you determine your items..  Criteria offered now include:  n Unit volume n Sales volume n Gr...
Read more

Disrupting the Sales Cycle

Image
There is a lot of talk of disruption today, taking old business concepts and shaking up the status quo , by changing the model and re-inventing it. If you are not familiar with the whole disruption movement you check out The Forbes Top 5 technology disruptions from CES .   But there is a school of thought that is showing that disruption is not always the the best way forward, and the current process isn't in need of disruption. Perhaps all we need is just the judicious application of some existing technology and some good old fashioned elbow grease. Here are some reasons I don't think the Business to Business Sales cycle is in need a of disruption. The message is simple, B2B sales is, was and should be about bringing value to your client. I don’t believe that most buyers have a linear process . Just like your sales process isn’t linear, and just like you might go over the same ground a few times, your buyer’s process isn’t a straight line from point A to point B, even if we som...
Read more