A fully automated and intelligent smart drone delivery project to tackle the "last-mile delivery" challenge in urban areas of China was jointly launched on Thursday by DHL-Sinotrans, China's first and most experienced international express company, and the world's leading intelligent autonomous aerial vehicle company, EHang.
The project held its inaugural flight in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, for an unidentified DHL-Sinotrans customer.
"Our cooperation with EHang and the technological innovation we carried out together will be a groundbreaking event for the logistics industry," Jack O'Neill, Senior Vice President, Network Operations of DHL Express China, told the Global Times on Thursday.
The project was developed over more than one year. It will reduce one-way delivery time from 40 minutes to only eight minutes and cut the cost of delivery by up to 80 percent. It will also feature reduced energy consumption and a smaller carbon footprint than road transportation, said Jack O'Neill.
As to what kinds of cooperation or assistance would be welcome for the promotion of the project, Jack said that the first priority would be EHang. The companies will put further effort into improving the drone delivery project.
Government support is another vital factor. Fortunately, it has attached importance to technological innovation, and we are looking forward to tighter and more efficient cooperation with relevant departments, he said.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said: "As China's drone industry is developing rapidly" we welcome and support EHang, which is among the first batch of pilot entities for UAV logistics operations, to work together with DHL-Sinotrans in advancing research and exploration in drone logistics that puts safety at the core and constantly improves the relevant standards and systems for drone logistics through practice," according to a statement DHL-Sinotrans sent to the Global Times Wednesday.
EHang's founder and CEO, Hu Huazhi, said at a press conference that the project is a new beginning in building air logistics for smart cities. Riding on the launch, the company expects smart drone delivery to be an innovative logistics solution that will be expanded to cover more areas.
"Our mission is to provide tailored technical support for traditional industries to help them achieve intelligent upgrading and explore new economic potential," Xiong Yifang, co-founder of EHang, told the press conference.
"Logistics industries in China have been exploring service upgrading with drones, mainly in remote exurban areas. This project involving EHang is in line with market demand. But it's still at the initial stage, with many obstacles to overcome, and it requires comprehensive effort to promote," Liu Jianxin, senior researcher at the China Society of Logistics, told the Global Times on Thursday.
