For residents of the Michelstadt districts served as part of Wingcopter’s LieferMichel pilot project, the year begins with two good news at once: They can continue to have smaller errands delivered conveniently and with zero emissions by delivery drone and cargo bike. In addition, the range will be expanded to include non-prescription medicines.
The extension of the project until the end of March makes it possible to pursue the main project objectives over a longer period of time. These objectives include the implementation of safe drone flight operations in unrestricted airspace, including over the winter months, and the analysis of demand for delivery services in rural areas.
The local Bären-Apotheke pharmacy is now providing a product category that many local residents have explicitly requested. The pharmacy is integrated into the LieferMichel platform and offers a selection of non-prescription medicines. In addition, users have been able to choose from a wide range of goods from the local REWE center since the start of the project. Odenwaldbox, a provider of regional products, and SV Darmstadt 98 with a selection of fan merchandise have also been added to the platform over the course of the project.
"We are always looking for ways and means to offer our customers an even better shopping experience and improve local supply options. Here in rural areas, the long distances often make it difficult for sick people to get their medication quickly. We are therefore very pleased to be gaining initial experience with drone-based deliveries as part of the LieferMichel project," comments Frank Buffleb, pharmacist and owner of Bären Apotheke in Erbach.
"Delivering medicines is part of our DNA at Wingcopter. In many projects to date, we have delivered medicines to hospitals and collected laboratory samples from there. Now, for the first time, we are delivering medicines directly to the end customer. This is an exciting learning experience and an important milestone in this project," says Ansgar Kadura, co-founder and Chief Services Officer of Wingcopter.
"The expansion of the range to include non-prescription medical supplies shows the attractiveness of the project and demonstrates the demand for individual services in this sector too," adds Prof. Dr. Kai-Oliver Schocke, President of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.
LieferMichel is a pilot project by Wingcopter and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, which is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) as part of the "Innovative Air Mobility" funding directive. The application-oriented research project makes it possible to test the use of new technologies in regular operations and gain important insights for future commercialization. Via the website, residents of the Michelstadt districts of Würzberg and Rehbach can order a wide range of products online from REWE, Odenwaldbox, SV Darmstadt 98 and the local Bären pharmacy. These are then flown by Wingcopter delivery drone to fixed landing points just outside the villages within the selected delivery window, from where they are transported the last few meters to the customer's front door by electric cargo bike - conveniently, quickly and emission-free. So far, more than flight 2,000 kilometers have been collected. Other project partners are Vodafone and Riese & Müller.
