Seino Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Seino), which owns Seino Transportation, and Aeronext, a drone startup, will start a new delivery service at the end of April in Kosuge Village, Yamanashi Prefecture. Drone delivery will be added to the transportation method in the last one mile, and it will be operated on a daily basis to establish the "Kosuga model", aiming to expand to 817 depopulated areas throughout Japan in the future.
In January, the two companies signed a business alliance agreement for the commercialization of new smart logistics, and drone delivery in Kosuge Village is part of this. There are two specific initiatives this time. Seino will call on other companies in the same industry to switch to joint delivery for land transportation to Kosuge Village to improve efficiency. Then, Seino and Aeronext will jointly develop a smart supply chain "SkyHub" that connects and integrates existing land transportation and drone delivery.
Kosuge Village, located in the eastern part of Yamanashi Prefecture, is the headwaters of the Tama River, about 2 hours by car or train from Tokyo. Recently, craft beer maker Far Yeast Brewing has moved its head office from Shibuya to Kosuge Village, which is a hot topic. Although it is a depopulated area with a population of about 700, there are many double-income households and immigrants. Aeronext signed an agreement with Kosuge Village in November 2020 to revitalize the region through drone delivery, and in January 2021 established a strategic subsidiary "NEXT DE LIVERY" in Kosuge Village whose main business is drone delivery services. Then, we have proceeded with this initiative with the understanding and cooperation of the villagers.
Currently, a warehouse called "Drone Depot", which temporarily stores luggage carried by existing logistics and is the starting point for drone delivery, and a "drone stand" where the drone distributes the luggage and receives it by the villagers are being installed. The company is also planning to open a route operated by the drone.
Seino His Last One Mile Promotion Team Executive Officer Hideharu Kawai (left) and Aeronext CEO Keisuke Taji (right).At Kosuge VillageWe asked Mr. Hideharu Kawai, Executive Officer of Seino Last One Mile Promotion Team, and Mr. Keisuke Taji, CEO of Aeronext, about the content and aims of Kosuge Village.
——First of all, please tell us the background of the business alliance.
Mr. Kawai: As you know, the logistics industry has a serious labor shortage and driver shortage, but on the other hand, the loading rate of all commercial trucks is around 40%, which means that they are almost carrying air. Seino has advocated the construction of an open public platform (OPP) in order to improve the efficiency of the logistics industry as a whole, and has actively promoted alliances and collaborations with other companies in the same industry, such as Mr. Sagawa. In fact, in the logistics industry, new initiatives such as joint delivery and connected trucks are being created one after another, and even in the last one mile, the mechanism for in-house delivery in Tokyo has been completed.
Even in areas such as Kosuge Village where there are many logistics issues, it is necessary to openly optimize logistics in collaboration with other companies in the same industry. This drone delivery service does not mean that the drones of each company will battle each other, but it is positioned as "one of the means of transportation in an open movement", and the delivery system of each delivery company and the drone operation system are linked. We are planning to build a mechanism that can do it. I would like to invite more and more companies who can make a serious commitment with the same feelings, share their wisdom, and create a new form of logistics.
Mr. Taji: Many drone delivery demonstration experiments have been conducted so far, but no matter how much you fly a drone without a customer by connecting a certain package and a certain user on a one-to-one basis, it will not be a business. .. This is because there is no "reality" of "who and what problem the drone delivery solves". That's why I'm working with a business that actually transports, and in a new logistics system that "transports an unspecified number of packages to an unspecified number of users by various means", drones I wanted to prove myself that the delivery service was launched.
Among the transportation companies, Mr. Seino is a B2B trunk logistics company, but he has a vision that it is essential to solve the Last One Mile issue for the future of trunk logistics. And I was very happy that the drone was properly incorporated in the future that Mr. Seino was aiming for. I was hoping to work with Seino, but I met Kawai, who has the power and vision, so I decided to work with Seino without hesitation.
——Seino has participated in several drone delivery demonstration experiments so far. Why did the two companies enter into a business alliance this time?
Mr. Kawai: In the past, I repeated a flight test called a demonstration experiment several times with various businesses, and each time I went to the site. However, the test of delivering a lunch box to grandma ends in one day. It's hard to connect directly to people for the sake of the world, and I couldn't get rid of the problem that "I'm incorporating drones into the future of logistics, but I can't draw the reality of drones."
At that time, I met Mr. Taji. He heard, "Isn't it the first step to implement it in society and create a state where drones are flying every day?" And since he specifically presented us with a place called Kosuge Village, we thought it was important for us to get into the field seriously and gather a lot of friends, so we took the form of a business alliance as a group. Then we were.
Mr. Taji: "I will find a specific area properly, so why don't you look for the reality of the drone together?" After that, a place called Kosuge Village was found, and consensus was reached with the local people. Since the announcement of the agreement with Kosuge Village in November 2020, the amount of conversation with Mr. Seino has increased dramatically.
——Please tell us about your efforts in Kosuge Village.
Mr. Kawai: As the population of depopulated areas continues to decline and the population ages, and the number of 817 depopulated areas throughout Japan increases, smarter distribution in depopulated areas is a very important issue, but Kosuge Village also has three days a week. It will be an area that causes inconvenience of delivery. Kosuge's baggage is a small amount of several tons even if it is one day, so it can not be delivered every day, and the loading rate per delivery is not high, so it is difficult to make a profit, so it is a so-called "delivery limited area". There is no doubt that it is an area where the amount of luggage is different but the burden is heavy for each shipping company, so even if it is not Seino, it would be helpful for each company to have a joint delivery system where somewhere can carry it all together. thinking about.
——It means that you carry your parcels to Kosuge Village by joint delivery, collect them once at the drone depot, and then deliver them by drone.
Kawai: That's right. For the "last mile" just before the last mile, we will carry it to the drone depot by joint delivery, and the drone depot side will have multiple means of transportation. It is an image that drone delivery is added as an option to this. We believe that things that are close to mixed cargo and passengers and buses that run in the village can also be used as transportation means.
This is because drones can be delivered in a straight short distance and are efficient, but the problem is that delivery is uneven due to the weather and other factors. We plan to diversify delivery methods while ensuring a 100% delivery system, and to deliver drones where the functions of the drone can be utilized. The point is that it is worthwhile to combine existing land transportation and drone delivery, so we will jointly develop a smart supply chain "SkyHub" that connects and integrates the two.
——What kind of division of roles will the two companies handle SkyHub?
Mr. Taji: Land transportation will be carried out by Mr. Seino, and air delivery will be carried out in the area of Aeronext, and we will jointly operate the drone depot, which is the junction. As Mr. Kawai said, drones are not all-purpose and may not be able to be carried due to weather conditions, so while assuming that they can be carried on the ground, we will actively deliver unprofitable and inefficient parts. By replacing it, we will improve the overall efficiency.
——What does drone delivery carry and at what rate do you plan to operate?