inbound
Amazon and Google have grabbed
the headlines with their talk of using
unmanned drones to deliver packages.
But the U.S. Department of Defense
and the parcel carrier DHL are actually
making it work.
At the Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals’ Annual
Global Conference in September, Don
Reed and Corey Cook of Lockheed
Martin Corp. talked about an operational drone delivery
system developed
for the U.S. military. The K-Max
unmanned aerial system (UAS), a
modified version of
the K-1200 helicopter built by Kaman
Aerospace Corp., has already flown
over 1,900 missions in Afghanistan and
can comfortably lift between 1,000 and
6,000 pounds, depending on its altitude. The drone’s success in a combat
environment has inspired Lockheed
and Kaman to explore potential commercial applications, such as deliveries
to remote construction sites.
The military is not alone in find-
ing practical uses for these unmanned
wonders. DHL is conducting a pilot
project on the North Sea island of Juist
in Germany to deliver medications and
other urgently needed goods via a small
aircraft dubbed the “parcelcopter.”
Weighing less than 11 pounds, the
parcelcopter will carry shipments
weighing up to 2. 6 pounds in a spe-
cially designed lightweight, weather-
proof container. The parcelcopter will
touch down at its own landing field
and launch pad; from there, a DHL
courier will deliver the medications to
the recipient.
DHL says it has no specific plans to
use the aircraft in standard parcel-de-livery operations.
As groups like the World Health Organization and UNICEF have made
clear, logistics expertise and muscle are critical to mounting an effective
response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. A number of organizations in the logistics and transportation sectors are answering that call,
volunteering their time, expertise, and services to help stop the spread
of the deadly disease. Here are just a few examples:
Executive Director Kathy Fulton, health professionals and volunteers
there need personal protective equipment, but restocking that gear
is difficult because borders are closed and many commercial carriers have suspended service to the affected countries. Working with
other logistics-focused partners, ALAN is assisting nonprofits that
are donating protective equipment to the Ministries of Health in the
affected countries. Airlifts have transported more than 300,000 pounds
of supplies to Liberia and Sierra Leone, with another 350,000 pounds
scheduled. ALAN, a 501(c)( 3) nonprofit organization, is seeking financial donations to support the Ebola response; you can give online at
www.ALANAid.org. The group is also seeking in-kind support, including transportation and warehousing services. If you can help, contact
Fulton at Kathy@ALANAid.org.
b UPS has allocated emergency funding for the World Food Programme
to support the group’s “global logistics cluster” operations in West
Africa. The carrier also handled a charter flight for UNICEF and is
providing ongoing air, ocean, and ground support for the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control, Medshare, Africare, and other nonprofit agencies.
b The Air Force Medical Operations Agency is using Port San Antonio
(Texas) and the adjacent Kelly Field as a logistics center to support
African nations affected by Ebola. Supplies, which include mobile hospitals, are loaded onto military cargo aircraft. A video produced by the
USAF 502nd Air Base Wing shows how it’s done. You can view it at
www.portsanantonio.us.
Logistics joins the fight against Ebola
The future has landed
With apologies to the novelist Thomas Wolfe, it seems you can go home
again—if you’re talking about the Journal of Business Logistics, that is.
The influential journal, which is published by the Council of Supply
Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), was founded at The Ohio
State University (OSU) in 1978 by the legendary Dr. Bernard J. (Bud)
La Londe Jr. However, since that time, no OSU professor has held a top
editor’s position at the journal.
That will change in another year or so, when OSU will “take the ball
back,” so to speak. Walter Zinn, Ph.D., chair of the Department of
Marketing and Logistics, and Thomas J. Goldsby, Ph.D., professor of
logistics, both in OSU’s Fisher College of Business, have been named
editors of the publication. Their five-year terms will begin in 2016.
OSU takes the JBL “ball” back
