DC Velocity - February 2019

t h o u gh t le a d ers

K E LL E R RINAUD O

26 DC VELOCITY FEBRUARY 2019 www.dcvelocity.com the distribution center, it can actually use a parachute to bring itself to ground gently. So, this is how we ensure that these vehicles are 100 percent safe for the people they’re flying over.

QHow many types of those deliveries are you making a day in Rwanda? A We just agreed to an expan- sion of our services in Rwanda and have added a second distribution center. That will allow us to do about 200 deliveries per day countrywide.

QAre you looking to expand to other nations with this technology?

AYes, rural healthcare is a global problem. A lot of other countries are now looking at Rwanda as a role model and figuring out how they can leverage similar technology to improve their own healthcare systems. So, we will be launching in several other African countries in the next six months.

And here in the United States, we will soon begin making
lifesaving medical deliveries in rural North Carolina. We’re
working through final details with the Federal Aviation
Administration, the state of North Carolina, and our part-
ners on the ground. We expect to begin deliveries there
beginning in the second quarter of this year.

Q There’s been a lot of talk in the logistics industry about drones being used for deliveries. Can you see a day when that technology will be used on a regular basis for small parcel deliveries, such as e-commerce orders?

AYes. The funny thing is, it is already happening at scale today, just not in the United States. When it comes to e-commerce, we think it’s inevitable that this type of technology will have a big impact on how e-commerce orders are delivered, but that’s not the first place the technology is going to start. It makes more sense to start focused on life-saving applications. Then I think after that, you’ll see a lot of high-need, urgent applications that might be more industrial applications. And then in the long run, you’ll start to see this technology permeate the really big parcel-delivery market that’s currently served mainly by UPS and FedEx.