DC Velocity - Digital 2018

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duct a manual inspection, Bleikamp said.

Although not yet in widespread use, these applications demonstrate the potential of drones to save precious time in logistics operations. The technology still has a ways to go, Bleikamp said, but adoption rates could soar as vendors address limitations such as the inability of drone-mounted cameras to see inventory stacked in multiple rows, like goods in a push-back or flow-through rack.

CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF?

As for the market outlook for drones in logistics-related applications, Bob Etris, for one, is decidedly bullish. Etris, who is a partner and director at Evans Inc., a Falls Church, Va.-based consulting firm, said this niche market is growing fast and has a great deal of potential.

That’s partly because regulations are looser on private property—such as a warehouse—than in public airspace, he said. Right now, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules still apply, particularly if a warehouse is close to an airport or other “ controlled airspace” that is tightly managed for aviation safety. But even those rules are expected to change within the next 18 to 36 months, as federal regulators begin easing restrictions on drone use for applications such as search and rescue operations or locating fugitives. Once those changes take effect, the market for drones in business applications could really take off, Etris said.

FAA figures indicate that drone use is already pick-
ing up steam. Drone demand is still driven by hobby-
ists flying small models of unmanned aircraft systems
(UAS)—the government term for flying drones—
with the market predicted to grow from about 1. 1
million vehicles in 2016 to more than 3. 5 million
units by 2021, according to the agency’s “Aerospace
Forecast – Fiscal Years 2017 to 2037.”
But commercial drones—the type that would be
used for logistics applications—are closing the gap.
The commercial, non-hobbyist UAS fleet is forecast
to grow from 42,000 at the end of 2016 to a conser-
vative target of 442,000 aircraft by 2021 or a high-end
target of 1. 6 million aircraft. That broad range of
target estimates reflects uncertainty about the regu-
latory environment, the FAA says. The higher esti-
mate would only apply if lawmakers decide to ease
restrictions such as the rules that allow operation
only during daytime hours and within the operator’s
line of sight.

Loosen those regulations, Etris says, and the mar-
ket could explode. “The barriers to entry are far
[lower] than most people think,” he said. “It’s not
terribly difficult to set one of these up.”
Industry figures support the growth predictions.
A recent survey conducted by the trade group MHI
across 1,100 manufacturing and supply leaders
showed that the use of driverless vehicles and drones
(which were grouped together for survey purposes)
would nearly quadruple over the next five years—
going from just 8 percent of respondents today to
31 percent. The study, titled “The 2017 MHI Annual
Industry Report—Next-Generation Supply Chains:
Digital, On-Demand, and Always-On,” also found
that more than half of the respondents ( 54 percent)
believed driverless cars and drones had the potential
to transform supply chains and create competitive
advantage.

Vendors also see clear skies ahead for the wider adoption of drones in logistics. Drone providers such as Pinc Solutions, Verizon’s Skyward division, and Intelligent Flying Machines Inc. (IFM) have seen a steady increase in the number of warehouses that are looking to experiment with drones. IFM, for example, says it can perform automated inventory counts for an entire warehouse within 20 minutes, ensuring accuracy by connecting the system to the facility’s warehouse management software.

Between rising market demand, loosening government regulations, and a growing ecosystem of vendors, the case for deploying drones in the warehouse is building quickly. Experts like Evans’ Etris advise any company that operates DCs to keep an eye on trade shows and industry publications to keep up with changes in drone technology and regulation. If the forecasts are right, advances in those areas could unleash flocks of flying drones into a warehouse near you soon. ;