Pizza chain Domino's is back in the thick of innovation. After experiments with a delivery robot, Domino's is now also working on drone delivery. The company has conducted an initial test flight in New Zealand. Next year, it hopes to use the drone to deliver in the Netherlands too.
The delivery drone from Flirtey, the company developing the drones, is capable of autonomously flying to a specific location. It does so at a height of 60 metres. The order is placed at the customer's doorstep via a cable. This eliminates the need for the drone to land and allows it to fly back to Domino's for the next order.
Domino's wants to start using drones alongside its current delivery tools. Especially in hard-to-reach areas, the aircraft should offer a solution. For example, the drones could deliver pizzas in the Dutch countryside. "A densely populated city benefits more from a delivery driver on an e-bike, so we are looking at other situations with drone delivery," a Domino's spokesperson told RTL. Flirtey is currently in talks with European regulators. The aim is to conduct a first test flight in the Netherlands next year.
Interestingly, a video appeared on YouTube in 2013 in which a drone called the 'DomiCopter' delivered a Domino's pizza. The US parent company of Domino's Pizza immediately distanced itself from the video at the time. The company indicated in not planning to use drones for delivery, even in the future. The pizza chain now seems to be backtracking on that.
Delivery robot
Domino's made headlines earlier this year with the introduction of a delivery robot. The DRU (Domono's Robotic Unit) delivers at a speed of 20 kilometres per hour while keeping the pizzas warm. The robot uses GPS and Google Maps to find the customer's address. Once it arrives at the address, the customer can open the compartments using the unique code received via SMS.
Domino's does not expect the robot to hit the streets anytime soon. For now, the DRU is still serving as a prototype and should show consumers what possibilities await them in the future.
Editorial LogistiekProfs
