Utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles in commerce and managing supply chains - a literature review
Dinh, Quang Minh (2024)
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024060621676
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024060621676
Tiivistelmä
Unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs in short, possess the potential to transform the logistics industry as we know it. Drone technology is striving to meet several last-mile consumer needs for products such as pre-made food, convenience products, along with business-to-business needs, such as the transport of medical samples for laboratory examination. The concept of drone delivery has moved from pure fantasy to a very real phenomenon in the logistics sector. Leading businesses have been incorporating this technology into everyday operations as an alternative to traditional delivery methods’ clear shortcomings.
Congestion, long-distance delivery, and ever-growing demand for speedy delivery are but only a few of the challenges drone deliveries effectively addresses. Unlike conventional means, package delivery through drones is versatile, capable of negotiating diverse terrains and delivering goods at scale and with unprecedented speed. With this in mind, the objective of the study was to establish the available use cases for unmanned aerial vehicles in the logistics sphere, with an emphasis on the last mile, where goods are transported to the client and viewed as the most critical and costly phase of transportation. The paper examined the existing literature on how certain challenges with efficiency can be navigated and how regulatory barriers, in the case of the European Union (EU), with the concept of U-Space, can affect the full potential of drones as a method of delivery it also touched on strategies to make the last mile in drone transport more environmentally friendly. A systematic literature review and Meta-synthesis was utilized for analysis and interpretation of findings; it also touched on strategies to make the last mile in drone transport more environmentally friendly.
The study found that research has been focused on four issues regarding efficiency: (1) drone assignment; (2) charging process and recharging location; (3) vehicle routing; (4) fleet dimensioning. The solutions presented may provide a way forward for industry leaders, albeit with certain limitations acknowledged. Furthermore, the work also found that there are still many challenges, be it the regulations’ own contradictions, disconnects in airspace management or red tape, to a full rollout of drones in a common European airspace; despite this, certain case studies in Germany and France have showcased the possibilities of drones in becoming the premier transportation mode for goods in the future; greener developments still need to be made in order to ensure the lowest impact possible from drones onto the wider environment.
Congestion, long-distance delivery, and ever-growing demand for speedy delivery are but only a few of the challenges drone deliveries effectively addresses. Unlike conventional means, package delivery through drones is versatile, capable of negotiating diverse terrains and delivering goods at scale and with unprecedented speed. With this in mind, the objective of the study was to establish the available use cases for unmanned aerial vehicles in the logistics sphere, with an emphasis on the last mile, where goods are transported to the client and viewed as the most critical and costly phase of transportation. The paper examined the existing literature on how certain challenges with efficiency can be navigated and how regulatory barriers, in the case of the European Union (EU), with the concept of U-Space, can affect the full potential of drones as a method of delivery it also touched on strategies to make the last mile in drone transport more environmentally friendly. A systematic literature review and Meta-synthesis was utilized for analysis and interpretation of findings; it also touched on strategies to make the last mile in drone transport more environmentally friendly.
The study found that research has been focused on four issues regarding efficiency: (1) drone assignment; (2) charging process and recharging location; (3) vehicle routing; (4) fleet dimensioning. The solutions presented may provide a way forward for industry leaders, albeit with certain limitations acknowledged. Furthermore, the work also found that there are still many challenges, be it the regulations’ own contradictions, disconnects in airspace management or red tape, to a full rollout of drones in a common European airspace; despite this, certain case studies in Germany and France have showcased the possibilities of drones in becoming the premier transportation mode for goods in the future; greener developments still need to be made in order to ensure the lowest impact possible from drones onto the wider environment.