Chicago is an "ideal" place to develop drone delivery, local tech executives said at a supply chain tech talk hosted by innovation hub 1871 this month.
It's with last-mile delivery — i.e., the final leg of the e-commerce supply chain — where the innovation could really thrive.
For example, when you order a product from China, 53% of the cost comes just from getting it from a fulfillment center to your house, which is anywhere from two to 10 miles away, said Michael Meyers, principal at Meyers Associates.
"What’s at stake here? Reduction of emissions and more importantly taking vehicles off the street. Food delivery utilizing the air for deliveries takes all kinds of cars off the street," added Jerry Quandt, executive director of Mobility IL, during the webinar.
Meyers thinks the market could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years.
However, the innovation won't come without some challenges.
"When you break it down, you can't have drones buzzing back and forth landing on the sidewalk and dropping off to people," said Ryan Walsh, founder and CEO of Valqari.
The Chicago-based maker of a smart drone delivery mailbox partnered with commercial drone company AgEagle in 2021 to deliver food and beverages via drone to golfers in Arizona.
He said the "chain of custody" becomes very important to ensure that you aren't just leaving a bag of alcohol on the golf course.
"You need safe spaces for drones to land and securely drop those packages, and so we really focused on the infrastructure piece," Walsh added.
Although people might fear that drones and AI are going to take jobs away from people, that won't be the case, Meyers said.
"We're trying to make things more efficient and cleaner for the environment," he said.
And Chicago is an "ideal" place to do it, Meyers added, "because of our unique weather, environment and our unique transportation situation here. I think this is the best place to test them. They can work in Chicago's environment, they can work anywhere else in the country."
Walsh added that Illinois is in a unique position because it has one of the largest inland ports in the world, one of largest rail and trucking hubs, and two international airports.
"There are so many things that make Chicago uniquely suited for this with a perfect mix of urban, suburban and rural all within an hour driving," he said.
