Drones: A possible ally against COVID-19

There are many challenges considering the actual pandemic situation including the production limitation of vaccines, tests, and other PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), but without a good development of logistics, they could not reach the final users, specially when rural health inequities exist.

For this reason, the drone delivery service “Zipline” in partnership with the Government of Ghana, have started an air distribution of vaccines to the most remote areas where other types of transportation would take longer and imply more costs. In addition, UPS (logistics company) had been providing critical ground transportation of the vaccines and in conjunction with Zipline, have placed nests (bases for the drones to launch and land) in strategic zones to distribute vaccines across Ghana. It is also noted that this company had already experienced in the topic when it provided support for the distribution of COVID-19 tests.

The process of the delivery by drone consists on the drone arriving to the health facility or a specific out of reach vaccination centre, and instead of landing, it will lower its altitude to be able to release the package, in this the vaccine, from the air. The package will then parachute to the ground and land in a three-metre-wide area approximately.

The link from below is a video on how this system works and that was taken in Rwanda in 2016, when Zipline was also assisting in the critical healthcare access initiatives.

https://www.forbes.com/video/4885618798001/

As seen in other companies such as the partnership of Merck (pharmaceutical company) and Volansi (drone technology) whose purpose was to create an efficient delivery of routine medications, this would not be the first-time using drones for medical purposes. Some of the reasons regarding their use lay on the fact that drones will make distribution of medications and vaccines in rural areas more equity that how they currently operate and could also mean a cost-saving mean of transport (between 20 to 50% under a wide range of conditions and depending on the size of population served, the radius, quality of roads).

Even though the idea of distributing vaccines by drones sounds promising and interesting and give a possible solution for the always complex logistical challenge, there are still many requirements to take into account if considering this option. As vaccines can be delicate to transport and may require special storage (ultra-cold storage), there are still some technological and regulatory hurdles than need to be improved.

It is for sure an alternative with many advantages for the health industry and that can produce a positive impact on the vaccine logistics by reaching more people.

From: Forbes – Drones Are Now Being Used To Deliver Covid-19 Vaccines https://www.forbes.com/sites/saibala/2021/03/06/drones-are-now-being-used-to-deliver-covid-19-vaccines/?sh=70633ca126dc

Transport Topics – Drones Could Help Bridge Divides for Vaccine Distribution https://www.ttnews.com/articles/drones-could-help-bridge-divides-vaccine-distribution

GREEN LOGISTICS?

Nowadays pollution is a topic of great importance in all the industries, as for the daily operations of a company, big quantities of CO2 are released. For the logistics sector, this contamination is produced because of the use of fossil fuels in transportation, but what if we could keep transporting the products from one place to another without having such a big negative impact on the planet?

A possible solution for this issue is the utilization of renewable energies such as the one generated by green Hydrogen. This chemical element is abundant in nature, is light and highly reactive. This hydrogen can be obtained by electrolysis (a chemical process that separates hydrogen from oxygen in water).

Some advantages of this growing industry:
– It is 100% sustainable compared to traditional fuels

-It can be transformed into electricity for mobility and other purposes

-It can be stored and used after its production

-It can travel through the same channels and infrastructure as gas and can be mixed with it up to 20%

Some challenges to face:

-High costs related to equipment and technology as there is a lack of infrastructure for this chemical and the production process is not fully developed, which increases the costs compared to the ones of diesel.

-High costs of vehicles, even though it is an eco-friendly option for the logistics sector, it will increase the service prices.

“According to some studies, the year-on-year increase in hydrogen plants between 2018 and 2019 worldwide was 20%, between 2019 and 2020 it was over 50% and between 2020 and 2021 it is expected to exceed 100%, i.e. double the number of operational stations.”

According to prediction from the World Hydrogen Council, its production will become 50% cheaper by 2030, being one of the fuels of the future. Furthermore, the European Commission presented a “Sustainable and Intelligent Mobility Strategy” a specific plan to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 90% related to transportation in the next three decades.

With the development of this environmental energy source, transportation companies can become more sustainable while developing their current business and lowering their carbon footprint.

From: Stock Logistics – Green hydrogen will gain importance in the logistics sector

Partnerships to become stronger

Some companies are strong by their own but when creating alliances between them, gives room for continuous improvement. For example, this year, the leading African company Imperial (specialized in proving integrated market access and logistics solutions focus on healthcare, consumer, automotive, chemicals as well as industrial and commodities) announced its partnership with Mix Telematics (a leading SaaS provider of connected fleet management solutions), which since more than 10 years has been the supplier of Imperial.

The agreement between these two companies will mean the alignment of data and reporting through the implementation of risk management benefits across Imperial´s fleet. The integrated data will also provide a general view of operations, allowing the identification of trends for continuous efficiency improvements for Imperial.

Furthermore, safe vehicle and driver operations will be ensured by the bureau service of MiX while the fleet’s safety and monitoring will be enhanced with the MiX Vision camera solution and MiX Vision bureau service, the benefits of which are greater visibility and insights into Imperial’s vehicles and drivers in real-time.

The managing director of MiX Telematics Africa, Gert Pretorius, stated: “Our expertise in fleet telematics and security services adds value to Imperial’s business and is testament to how successful our solutions are at meeting the specific requirements of a leading logistics provider. Together, our advanced artificial intelligence powered technology solutions present new growth opportunities for both businesses”.

https://www.logisticsnews.co.za/Article/imperial-enters-strategic-partnership-with-mix-telematics

PepsiCo: Experts in products but struggling in their distribution

PepsiCo is one of the biggest companies in the food, snack, and beverage sector with international presence; however, they faced problems when trying to enter the Ukrainian market. The distribution system they operated was through exportation of their products to Ukrainian bottling companies, which then sold the products to independent distributors. This system did not only generate more costs for PepsiCo, but also it was not able to reach all the rural areas were prospective customers were.

The high interdependence of distributors and the management on the supply chain led that PepsiCo loses control over its operations and their modus operandi as the cultural differences also played an important role in the situation.

In order not to keep the losses, PepsiCo established an own distribution system in agreement with local organizations to invest in bottling plants in the country and reinforce their presence in the international market, recovering the power over the distribution channels and reaching to more consumers.

Sources:

Marketing Channels And Logistics: a Case Study Of Pepsi International

New York Times: COMPANY NEWS: Pepsico Reaches Accord For Expansion in Ukraine