PackExpo flaunts future of packaging, package delivery
PackExpo attendees got a chance this week not only to see the future of packaging but also the future of package delivery.
Workhorse Group, a maker of electric delivery trucks used by UPS and FedEx, demonstrated drone deliveries launched from the roof of its vehicles at PackExpo, the biannual show dedicated to the packaging and processing industries.
The company was one of 2,000 exhibitors at the three-day show held inside the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show, which ended Wednesday, attracts about 30,000 people from around the world and features machinery and robots used to pack foods, beverages and pharmaceuticals.
“PackExpo brought us here to show something different and get the wheels turning in people’s minds,” said Elliot Bokeno, a Workhorse manager who was running the demonstrations. “Drone delivery will be a reality and companies will have to take that into account when creating packaging.”
Companies might seek to make packaging smaller and lightweight to more easily be held by drones, he said.
The demonstration “is an opportunity to show the professionals that use or produce packaging and processing to see what the possibilities are for using a drone to deliver a product,” said Tom Egan, vice president for industry services at the Association of Packaging and Processing Technologies.
Test deliveries
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration allows companies to test drone deliveries in certain circumstances.The FAA is working on regulations to permit drone delivery .
Workhorse is awaiting FAA approval to hold a second test run of deliveries beyond line of sight to homes in rural Ohio later this year. The company carried out test deliveries with UPS in Florida in February.
“People think that — out in rural America — everyone is going to take it down with their shotguns, but that is not the case. People are excited, they like the idea,” Bokeno said about the test package deliveries, which contain real goods.
Customers would need to approve drone deliveries and download an app that would allow them to designate where the package should be dropped, Bokeno said. Customers would get a notification on the app that a drone is going to drop off a package and could watch it in real time.
Amazon, 7-Eleven and other retail companies are testing drone deliveries to homes from stores and warehouses. Their drones deliveries would take off and return to the same location.
7-Eleven tested drone deliveries to residents in Reno in July 2016. Amazon completed its first test drone delivery in December near Cambridge, England.
Mobile launch pads
Workhorse’s vision for drone delivery differs.
The company is building trucks equipped with software that could launch drone deliveries along a route while the driver simultaneously drops off packages in another area. The drones would return to the truck’s new location and recharge.
“This is just an enhancement to an existing fleet that is already out there. UPS and FedEx are on your street everyday,” Bokeno said.
Workhorse has prototypes of drones that can travel up to 55 mph and carry up to 10 pounds. But Bokeno said the company would consider using drones by leading manufacturers, such as DJI.
Bokeno said delivery companies probably would focus initially on rural regions as they are the most expensive to serve. Trucks might need to travel great lengths just to drop off one package.
It costs roughly $1 in fuel and maintenance to drive a gasoline-powered truck a mile and 30 cents for a hybrid truck, according to Bokeno. It costs just a few cents for drones to travel the same distance.
UPS said in February it could save about $50 million a year if each driver were able to reduce routes by 1 mile per day.
“It can be insane savings in the long term,” Bokeno said.
Contact Todd Prince at tprince@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0386. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter.
The marketThe U.S. packaging machinery market rose 4.8 percent last year to nearly $10 billion, according to the Association of Packaging and ProcessingTechnologies, which runs the show.
The food and beverage segment account for about 60 percent of the packaging and processing industry. Pharmaceuticals is the the next largestsegment.
The packaging and processing industries continue to experience increased mechanization and implementation of robotics, according to LauraThompson, senior director of the association.
