Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas say drone technology has the potential to be a genuine game changer in the retail industry, with its promise to enable retailers to offer unheard-of delivery lead times and near-perfect delivery-time customization adaptability.
Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas say drone technology has the potential to be a genuine game changer in the retail industry, with its promise to enable retailers to offer unheard-of delivery lead times and near-perfect delivery-time customization adaptability.
In a new study, recently published online in Production and Operations Management, three faculty members from the Naveen Jindal School of Management explored how drone delivery could change retail logistics networks. The paper focuses on the use of customer-facing delivery centers, also known as last-mile warehouses.
Dr. Milind Dawande, professor of operations management and one of the paper’s co-authors, said last-mile retail delivery via drones is being viewed as a truly disruptive technology. Retailers worldwide are pursuing approaches to enable faster delivery, and drones arguably represent the most encouraging technological innovation toward this goal, he said.
The study found that both the number of last-mile warehouses and the delivery speed of the drones will increase as technology matures. In other words, last-mile delivery networks will become more decentralized, with drones operating at increasingly faster speeds.
Read more at University of Texas at Dallas
Image: Three UT Dallas researchers found that last-mile delivery networks will become more decentralized and the delivery speed of the drones will increase as the technology matures. (Credit: UT Dallas)
