Tag Archives: technology

Wing to launch unique new drone delivery model

Posted on March 11, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet (think Google), is pioneering a new delivery model. Drones pick up packages and deliver them via a network of landing pads and charging stations. They can handle multiple deliveries point-to-point without returning to the base. It’s because the standardized landing and charging stations are also near to the start point of their next run.

The CEO indicates that the model is a lot more like a computer message network than a last-mile logistics network. The software they’ve written matches the delivery demand with the available drones. Any nearby drone can pick up and make the delivery, then scout via software for another nearby pickup.

It’s another ingenious solution to the problems of thin demand. If there’s not enough, drones will be unoccupied. Pooling demand for package rides will make the system work better.

Another advantage of drones for delivery is their zero-emission properties. Drones are electric-powered, and emit lots less than local delivery trucks. They are also lots cheaper. There are limits on the size of packages they can carry, but if you look at typical deliveries to an apartment complex, for instance, you see that most packages are small.

Perhaps drone delivery is the future of last-mile package service.

Jack Daleo·Thursday, March 09, 2023

Wing to launch unique new drone delivery model – FreightWaves

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Posted in Air, Logistics, Supply Chains

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DPW to deploy first Boxbay stacking system at Pusan Newport

Posted on March 8, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Here’s an innovation that’s going to be popular at container terminals. It’s a fixed set of frames allowing containers to be stacked in individual pigeonholes. They’re placed and removed by stacker cranes running through the aisles. The system has been in development and testing since 2018.

Hardware innovations take a long time to develop, and they require a place for testing. The partnership of DP World and SMS Group, a German firm, combined the expertise and the need and test bed to create the product.

Stacking density may be improved up to 4 times using the Boxbay system.

This is not a new idea. Auto manufacturers and shippers have been using such arrays to store cars since the 90’s. I was shown a picture of one in Japan by Ernest Konigsberg, a Berkeley operations research professor who was familiar with the design and the optimizing software written to decide which locations to place vehicles. We would call it AI today, but then it was simply optimization software. It’s been around a long time.

An interesting question is why this technology is only emerging now. One answer is the Great Congestion about the time of the COVID epidemic. Yard storage was a significant problem during the supply chain crisis. This kind of system can improve the utilization of scarce container yard land. It’s a natural type of tech to invest in.

I’m sure we will see more such systems if container shipping demand comes back and exceeds the congestion period levels. But if ports aren’t handling so many containers, they may not be so eager to invest in this technology. I don’t see the large US ports jumping on this so soon, with traffic falling.

The article has a nice picture of Pusan Newport terminal, and judging by the stacking disarray in the right part of the picture, they can use this system1

By Nick Savvides 08/03/2023

DPW to deploy first Boxbay stacking system at Pusan Newport – The Loadstar

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Posted in Logistics, Ports

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Bocimar to operate world’s first ammonia-powered newcastlemaxes

Posted on February 3, 2023 by | 1 comment

Here we see another bet on ammonia power. One partner is the Swiss firm WinGD, which has a long history of providing power for merchant shipping. Their website gives no indication that they have a hydrogen or ammonia-powered engine yet. But they do offer dual-fuel engines that will utilize gas for fuel. Perhaps they are not so far away.

Another development partner, CMB.TECH, a clean technology private firm based in Antwerp, already has some design expertise for ammonia engines. A look at their site shows some hydrogen-powered vessels operating, and some ammonia-powered vessels on order. They also have some hydrogen-powered fixed engines and other machines such as an excavator that they say can be ordered today.

Handling of hydrogen or ammonia on board and at ports is a major concern with this technology. Watch for the designs to see how difficult this will be.

Sam ChambersJanuary 31, 2023

Bocimar to operate world’s first ammonia-powered newcastlemaxes – Splash247

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Posted in Logistics, Shipping

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