Shunfeng rushed to the commercial track of feeder logistics drones, and Hummingbird Technology became the first enterprise in China to carry out commercial trial operation of large-scale and long-endurance feeder logistics drones in specific scenarios. Commercial track of logistics drone of SF Express Beach Branch.
The commercial track of SF Express Branch Logistics UAV 1 Hummingbird Technology officially obtained the trial operation license and business license of branch logistics UAV. The layout of express logistics drones ushered in new progress. According to SF Group's micro-signal 65438+1October 25th, Hummingbird Technology, a large UAV company under SF, has obtained the trial operation license and business license for feeder logistics UAVs issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. It marks that Hummingbird Technology has become the first enterprise in China to carry out commercial trial operation of large-scale and long-endurance feeder logistics drones in specific scenarios, and also the first large-scale drone enterprise in the world to use operational risk assessment methods to conduct commercial trial operation of feeder logistics in specific scenarios with the approval of regulatory authorities.
2065438+In February, 2009, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the "Regulations on the Trial Operation of Certain UAV (Provisional)". Volunteer applicants will be approved to implement the trial operation of drones in some typical operation scenarios.
According to SF Group, Hummingbird Technology took the lead in verifying the operation practice of branch logistics scenarios based on the specific operation risk assessment (SORA) method. After preliminary examination, document review and on-site subject verification, it passed the final review of the Civil Aviation Administration in 20021and 65438+February. After approval, Hummingbird Technology will take the lead in developing feeder logistics and transportation services in Yulin and other places in northwest China, helping SF Group to build a three-level air transportation network of "large manned transport aircraft+large feeder drones+terminal delivery drones", and will expand the trial operation scope in a timely manner under the supervision and guidance of the Civil Aviation Administration, and gradually connect and network.
Future industry needs standards or further improvement.
It is not the first time that the commercial operation of the UAV project has been approved by SF Group.
Earlier, it was reported in qianjiang evening news that on June 5, 20 19, the Civil Aviation Administration of China awarded Hangzhou Songba Logistics Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Xunyi Company, the Approval for Trial Operation of a Certain UAV and the Operation License for UAV Logistics Distribution. It is the first trial operation project in China to complete operational risk assessment and verification since the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the "Regulations on the Trial Operation of Certain UAVs (Provisional)" and the new policy of "simplifying administration and decentralization, strengthening supervision and improving services", and it is also the first project in the world to be approved for the trial operation of UAV logistics in urban scenes. During the trial operation, the company will use the air distribution network in Hangzhou to provide safe and efficient medical emergency materials transportation and instant delivery service in the same city.
In addition to the UAV project applied to the distribution end, ZTO Express is competing with SF Group in the field of feeder logistics UAVs.
On June 5438+February last year, ZTO Express and Sichuan Tianyutong Technology Co., Ltd. jointly operated the Hongyan (HY 100) large cargo drone, and completed a cargo flight in Xinjiang with a flight duration of two hours and a flight range of nearly 500 kilometers. This is the first large-scale feeder logistics drone cargo flight of ZTO Express, and it is also the first normalized feeder logistics operation route for drones opened by Zhongtong in China.
It is reported that HY 100 UAV is one of the largest civil UAV transport planes in China. In June, 2020, 1 1, Hongyan (HY 100) UAV was awarded the "DPA000 1" design and production approval letter issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which was the first large UAV system in China to pass the airworthiness certification. In June, 2026,/kloc-0. At present, the two parties have cooperated to complete the operation system construction based on the UAV feeder logistics scenario.
Jin Renqun, vice president of ZTO Express Group, once said that HY 100 UAV has the advantages of large load capacity, large cargo space, short takeoff and landing distance and stable performance. Through all-round and multi-level three-dimensional planning, it is very suitable to arrange a runway on the existing site of the distribution center of express delivery enterprises for drone operation. In the next step, the company will report to the Civil Aviation Administration the idea of building a temporary landing point in the distribution center, and strive for the support and permission of the relevant industry authorities.
ZTO Express related business personnel told this newspaper that "ZTO Express's large-scale feeder logistics drone is currently in the stage of commercial trial operation and has not yet obtained the formal qualification of civil aviation. The first one is SF, and SF is also doing commercial trial operation before getting the certificate. "
The source said that SF's breakthrough indicates that the industry requirements will be further improved in the future, and only large and powerful enterprises can obtain the certificate. In the future, Zhongtong will accelerate the exploration of the wide application of large-scale UAVs in logistics scenes, and further promote the construction of a new three-dimensional intelligent logistics network.
Progress in the layout of drones by courier companies: still in the exploration stage.
The exploration of UAV application is more focused on the distribution end.
Tong Yuan Express related personnel told this newspaper that due to the limited loading capacity of drones, drones are being used in the field of express logistics, especially in rural areas.
According to the reporter of this newspaper, Tong Yuan Express currently has a national engineering laboratory, and there will be drones when it is displayed to the outside world, but it is rarely used for business. The UAV application of Shentong Express is still in the exploration stage, and Extreme Rabbit Express and Baishi Group have not yet set foot in the UAV field.
Earlier, in an interview with the newspaper, the President of UPS Asia Pacific and the President of FedEx China both revealed their respective UAV layouts, saying that the UAV business is only in trial operation in the United States, and the specific scheme is still being explored.
Wu Dongming, CEO of DHL Express in China, once said that DHL Express and Yihang * * * released the first fully automatic intelligent UAV logistics solution in China in 20 19. The first route is DHL Express, from Liaobu Service Center in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China to Songshan Lake area. The whole flight is about 8 kilometers and the maximum load is 5 kilograms. One-way delivery time is greatly shortened from 40 minutes to 8 minutes, and the operating cost is reduced by 80%, which is suitable for the needs of short-distance terminal delivery customers with flexible and high frequency in cities. It is understood that the UAV logistics solution is still in trial operation.
SF grabs logistics drone commercial track II. The commercialization of logistics drones has gone further.
65438+1On October 25th, SF Group officially announced that Hummingbird Technology, a large UAV company, has officially obtained the trial operation license and business license of feeder logistics UAVs issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. This also means that Hummingbird Technology has become the first enterprise in China that can conduct commercial trial operation of large-scale long-haul regional logistics drones in a specific scenario.
Hummingbird Technology officially obtained the trial operation license and business license of feeder logistics UAV. Image source: Photo courtesy of the enterprise
On the same day, the reporter of the National Business Daily learned from Jingdong Logistics that the "Jingting" self-rotating rotor feeder logistics drone independently developed by Jingdong Logistics recently carried out flight tests of related airworthiness projects, including three heavyweight subjects: expressway take-off, night flight and off-site transfer.
In the past two years, compared with the initial UAV staying in the laboratory and the "black technology" level, the UAV application scenarios in the logistics field are expanding: on the one hand, the epidemic situation has stimulated the demand for unmanned distribution, on the other hand, enterprises such as SF Express and Jingdong Logistics are also constantly exploring large UAV application scenarios.
The development momentum is improving, but for a long time, due to factors such as policies, regulations and technology, it will take time to judge the commercial operation and large-scale landing of drones. Nowadays, with the birth of the world's first regional logistics drone trial operation license and business license, the further commercialization and market competition of logistics drones are pressing the acceleration button.
Liu Dacheng, vice president of Tsinghua University Internet Industry Research Institute and director of Logistics Industry Research Center, said in an interview with the National Business Daily that the cost and construction cost of large-scale feeder logistics drones are far lower than those of conventional transportation channels, and they have a certain cost performance ratio. In addition, China has a vast territory, especially in remote areas, and the demand for drone transportation is high, so the market value and potential are huge.
Will 2022 be the first year of commercial operation of regional logistics drones? This groundbreaking and breakthrough new initiative of CAAC may be of great significance to the rapid development of the industry in the future. The development of large UAV technology and the commercial application of logistics and transportation scenarios will also promote the construction of integrated aviation logistics and smart logistics.
The world's first regional logistics drone license was born.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued "Regulations on Trial Operation Management of a Certain UAV (Provisional)" in February, 2065438+2009, and proposed that the specific operational risk assessment (SORA) method should be adopted to formulate the requirements for trial operation approval. Hummingbird Technology took the lead in verifying the operation practice of regional logistics scenarios based on the specific operational risk assessment (SORA) method. After preliminary examination, document review and on-site subject verification, it passed the final review of the Civil Aviation Administration in 20021and 65438+February. Through this evaluation method, the commercial trial operation of the feeder logistics UAV has been approved, and Hummingbird Technology is the first in the world.
Relevant licenses issued by the Civil Aviation Administration to Hummingbird Technology Image Source: Photo courtesy of the enterprise
SF said that after approval, Hummingbird Technology will take the lead in developing feeder logistics and transportation services in northwest Yulin and other places to help SF Group build a three-level air transport network of "large manned transport aircraft+large feeder drones+terminal delivery drones". In the future, under the supervision and guidance of the Civil Aviation Administration, the scope of trial operation will be expanded in a timely manner and gradually networked.
In fact, SF has been exploring in the field of unmanned aviation logistics for many years. As early as 20 12, Wang Wei, chairman of SF Express, put forward the idea of UAV logistics. From 20 13, SF began to carry out UAV logistics construction in an all-round way by means of joint venture, investment and self-research. Hummingbird Technology was established in 20 17, and it is also a large-scale UAV technology and service provider under SF Express.
In 2020, "double 1 1", SF said that during the promotion period, SF's overall express digestion capacity will be doubled than usual, and new operating modes will be added in aviation networks and other aspects. In terms of air transport capacity, in addition to its own 60 all-cargo planes, it has also increased the mode of drone transportation.
In the past two years, SF's layout on aviation and drones has begun to accelerate.
In March of 20021,Hummingbird Technology announced the completion of the A round of financing, which was jointly invested by Chongqing Liangjiang Aviation Investment Group and SDIC, and SF is still the controlling shareholder of Hummingbird Technology; 165438+ 10. In October, Fengyi Technology, a terminal distribution drone company owned by SF Express, announced that it had completed several hundred million yuan of Series A financing, focusing on the R&D and operation of terminal distribution logistics drones.
In terms of trunk large manned transport aircraft, SF Airlines has a fleet of 68 aircraft and is currently the largest cargo airline in China. On June 24, 2022, at 65438, SF Huahu Airport announced the completion of the school flight, and the test flight was put on the agenda.
Some insiders said that with the financing of "Hummingbird Technology" and "Fengyi Technology" and the upcoming school flight of Ezhou Huahu Freight Airport invested by SF, SF's layout in the aviation field has obviously accelerated. With the construction of the "three-level air transport network", the operating cost and efficiency of SF will also be significantly improved.
Although the birth of the world's first regional UAV business license is inspiring in the industry, the capital market is weak. As of the closing of 65438+ on1October 25th, SF shares closed at 63. 1 1 yuan, down 3.40% from the previous day.
There is a closed loop? Rush and JD of SF. COM's overweight logistics air combat continues to escalate.
In addition to SF, aviation and drones have always been a battleground for head enterprises in the logistics industry.
As early as 20 18, JD.COM put forward a three-level intelligent logistics system layout of "trunk line-branch line-terminal" to maximize the distribution efficiency in different application scenarios.
The reporter of National Business Daily noticed that on August 3rd, 20021,JD.COM's Jiangsu JD.COM Cargo Airlines Co., Ltd. was approved, which formally formed a tripartite confrontation with Tong Yuan Airlines and SF Airlines.
Although we didn't build our own fleet, the cargo plane mainly by air was realized through chartered flight and leasing. However, according to the global super port project plan published by JD.COM, it is estimated that the fleet size will reach 1 14 in 2025, and the cargo and mail throughput will reach 2.33 million tons. In 2045, the fleet size will reach 50 1, and the cargo and mail throughput will reach 865,438+10,000 tons.
It is worth mentioning that the reporter learned from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Transportation that JD.COM Cargo Airlines is expected to take off from Nantong in the first quarter of 2022, and will build a logistics transit center in East China after sailing. This plan can be traced back to February 20th, 2008, when Nantong Municipal Government and JD.COM Group signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement.
65438+1On October 25th, the "Jingtang" self-rotating rotor branch logistics drone independently developed by Jingdong Logistics recently carried out flight tests of related airworthiness projects, including three heavyweight subjects: road takeoff, night flight and off-site transition.
Jingdong Logistics told reporters that after obtaining the airworthiness permit, it is expected to provide logistics services for towns and villages in remote areas in the second half of this year. "Jingting" rotor feeder logistics UAV is the second feeder logistics UAV independently developed and designed by Jingdong Logistics. Compared with the small UAV at the end of Jingdong Logistics, the "Jingtang" rotor feeder logistics UAV solves the rapid transportation demand of a large number of goods from storage center to sorting center, or from sorting center to distribution station.
Ten days ago (65438+1October 14), a Boeing B767-300ERF plane was marked with "Lucky Purple" and "Guangzhou Asian GamesNo.". The main image of the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, painted on the fuselage, landed at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport and officially joined the Tong Yuan Air Fleet. This is also the first wide-body cargo plane introduced by Tong Yuan Airlines. Over the years, the layout of Tong Yuan in the aviation market has been stable, and its self-organized team has begun to take shape.
Based on the three-stage and three-stage air transport network, SF Express, with the first-Mover advantage, backed by JD.COM Group and JD.COM Airlines with stable business flow, has become the number one player on the track. The addition of JD.COM Airlines also made the air combat of Hummingbird more intense.
The logistics "four noes" have gone far and deep, and the logistics industry has entered a new round of arms race.
Looking at the whole logistics industry, as far as smart logistics is concerned, its development has so far formed the development direction of "four noes", namely unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned cabins, unmanned vehicles and unmanned ports.
As the most important part of the "four noes", UAV has always been in the leading queue of technology, and the layout around UAV is also the routine action of logistics head enterprises and large integrated logistics service providers.
The market size is also showing the great potential of drones. According to the research report released by L.E.K Consulting, with the unmanned technology and network scale greatly reducing the cost, by 2040, drones may account for 30% of the parcel delivery on the same day.
Liu Dacheng, vice president of Tsinghua University Internet Industry Research Institute and director of Logistics Industry Research Center, said in an interview with the reporter of National Business Daily that the core reason for the prosperity of feeder logistics drone ecological chain is that feeder logistics carries less goods and transportation volume, and its flow direction and direction are highly uncertain, plus the high cost of common transportation channels, and the overall cost performance ratio is not strong. In contrast, the cost and construction cost of large-scale feeder logistics UAV are lower than those of conventional transportation channels, and it has certain cost performance and market potential.
At the same time, Liu Dacheng believes that logistics hub nodes are often commercial hub nodes, and air transportation has a natural deterministic advantage in the direction of route establishment, from pipelines to railways to highways, so large-scale feeder logistics drones can effectively promote the operation between logistics hubs.
Logistics "four noes" is an important driving force for the transformation of logistics industry from labor-intensive to technology-intensive. Dong Zhonglang, strategic consultant of Prologis and managing partner of Yinshan Capital, also pointed out that the best logistics company in the future must be a technology company, a technology company in a logistics coat. In the future, technology will cross the logistics industry, and data and AI-driven logistics assets will bring high operational efficiency and completely change the old pattern of logistics.
In this regard, Liu Dacheng deeply agrees. He believes that "the empowerment and reconstruction of the logistics industry by big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence comes from four parts. One part is perception, from passive perception to active perception; The second part is transmission, from point-to-point to a group that can form a network; The third is decision-making, from people slowly entering the artificial intelligence stage; The fourth is implementation, that is, the production and transportation links have gradually evolved from few people and no one to automation.
"No matter from perception to transmission to decision-making, and finally to implementation, the intervention of science and technology is still to meet the more accurate matching between supply and demand, while reducing resource consumption." Liu Dacheng told reporters.
In any case, with the development trend of logistics "four noes", the transformation of logistics industry by science and technology has entered a new cycle. In this process, the logistics head enterprises compete in various sub-battlefields, from land transportation to air combat, and compete for a broader technology and aviation market based on their respective business and strategic needs.
Recently, Hummingbird Technology, a large-scale drone company under SF Express, announced that it has obtained the approval and business license for the trial operation of the first regional logistics drone in China issued by the Civil Aviation Administration, thus becoming the first enterprise in China to carry out commercial trial operation of large-scale and long-haul regional logistics drones in specific scenarios.
Hummingbird Technology under SF was established in 20 17 and 202 1 12. Hummingbird Technology finally passed the various reviews of the Civil Aviation Administration, and finally passed the review and was approved for commercial trial operation of the feeder logistics drone. After approval, the Hummingbird Science and Technology Award will first carry out feeder logistics and transportation services in Yulin, Northwest China.
According to the relevant contents of the business license issued by Hummingbird Technology, the business scope of Hummingbird Technology includes not only general air freight, but also aviation prospecting, aerial photography, ocean monitoring, fishing flight, air inspection and other businesses.
In addition, on June 24, 65438, the test flight of SF "Certificate" 560 aircraft at Ezhou Huahu Airport was completed, which also marked the completion of the school flight plan of Ezhou Huahu Airport. The results of school flight show that all the subjects of school flight at Ezhou Huahu Airport are qualified.
In the field of terminal drone delivery, Fengyi Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of SF Express, announced the completion of hundreds of millions of Series A financing at the end of last year 10/65438+. According to reports, Fengyi Technology focuses on the R&D and operation of terminal logistics drones, and has successively carried out drone logistics services in Ganzhou, western Sichuan, Jinshan and Greater Bay Area. As of 202 1, Fengyi UAV has safely operated nearly one million sorties.
Whether it is a large manned transport aircraft or a terminal delivery drone, or the highly anticipated commercial trial operation license of the first domestic feeder logistics drone, it has become the key for SF to build a three-stage air transport network. The industry also believes that SF's layout in the field of air transportation far exceeds that of other domestic logistics enterprises.
If the large manned transport aircraft represents the past and the present, then the foothold of large unmanned aerial vehicles in the freight field represents the future of the logistics industry. Therefore, in recent years, the market layout of UAV logistics has become more and more urgent.
Compared with traditional air transportation, UAV transportation has unique advantages, especially in remote rural areas. UAV flight is not limited by the terrain on the traditional transportation route. At the same time, the distance of UAV flight route is shorter than that of traditional highway transportation line, which is suitable for emergency parts distribution.
According to the Analysis of Market Situation and Development Prospect of China Logistics UAV Industry in 20021released by Forward-looking Industry Research Institute, at present, the application of domestic logistics UAV is mainly at the end of express delivery in rural and remote areas, and it is gradually expanding to scenes such as internal management of large warehouses and long-distance feeder transportation.
Consulting agency Frost &; According to Sullivan's data, in 2023, the global urban air logistics transportation market is expected to reach 46 billion US dollars, of which the China market will reach 20.7 billion US dollars, accounting for about 45%, and it is expected to become the largest market in the world. In this market, SF, JD.COM, Rookie, Postal Service, Zhongtong and Dayun are all competing for layout.
65438+1On October 25th, when SF's "three-stage air transport" became a hot topic in the industry, new news came from the drone project of Jingdong Logistics. According to the disclosure of Jingdong Logistics, the "Jingting" self-rotating rotor branch logistics drone independently developed by Jingdong Logistics has recently carried out flight tests of related airworthiness projects, including three heavyweight subjects: road take-off, night flight and off-site transition.
It is reported that the "Jingtang" rotor feeder logistics drone has a maximum take-off weight of 500 kg, a maximum commercial load of 1.20kg, covers material distribution within a radius of 450km, has short take-off and landing capability, and does not depend on the airport runway.
Jingdong Logistics pointed out that this means that the aviation logistics of Jingdong Logistics Branch will be able to get rid of the restrictions of airports and runways, and can take off and land by relying on the temporary landing points around the warehouse to solve the rapid transportation needs of a large number of goods from the storage center to the sorting center, or from the sorting center to the distribution station.
Jingdong Logistics also revealed that it is expected to bring corresponding logistics services to towns and villages in remote areas in the second half of this year after obtaining airworthiness permits.
In addition to the "Jingting" self-rotating rotor feeder logistics drone, Jingdong Logistics has long been deployed in the field of terminal small drones, and has participated in the transportation of disaster relief materials many times in recent years. At the end of 2020, JD.COM JDY-800 "Jinghong" cargo fixed-wing UAV successfully carried out cargo inspection flight at Feng Ming General Airport in Zigong, Sichuan, and achieved phased results in the logistics UAV test of JD.COM Branch.
The rookie also started the layout of drone transportation as early as a few years ago. On 20 15, rookie sET up et logistics laboratory, focusing on the research of automation technologies such as unmanned warehouses, unmanned vehicles and drones.
Based on the research and development in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles, the rookie unmanned helicopter once helped Shishan Longjing Tea Garden to transport tea from mountain to mountain, and participated in the express delivery of 20 19/6 18. At that time, the rookie unmanned helicopter flew from Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province to xiuying port, Haikou, Hainan Province with a logistics container, with a total distance of 32 kilometers and a time of 25 minutes.