Catherine Odiase, General Manager, Zipline Nigeria, has unpacked the company’s operational models and its plans to launch operations in other states in Nigeria.
Odiase in a media roundtable with journalists, on Thursday marshalled out the company’s plans to bridge the supply chain gaps through its drones or “unmanned aerial vehicles” (UAV), in providing much-needed access to medicine, medical supplies and vaccines to the last mile.
She expressed the company’s commitment to replicate successes it witnessed in Rwanda and Ghana in Nigeria using autonomous unmanned aircraft systems to deliver vital supplies to the last mile.
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Giving an insight into its business operation, Odiase said, “We operate an on-demand supply chain service that warehouses and delivers products directly to people when they need it.
“Our current-generation aircraft offer fast and reliable delivery with best-in-class safety standard rooted in design, protocols, and flight experience. Reliable in hurricane force winds, heavy rain, and extreme temperatures. Zero-emission transportation powered by renewable energy.
“Our Service Offerings range from warehousing and inventory management, On-Demand Distribution and logistics, management Supply Chain Optimization.”
The General Manager further noted that the Logistics company builds and operates strategically located networks of GDP-compliant warehouses, equipped with ULT cold chain storage and a purpose-built fulfillment system that maximizes access to products.
Equally, she added that their autonomous drone networks enable fast, reliable, and scalable on-demand distribution at countrywide serviceability.
According to her, “globally, someone gets a Zipline delivery every 3 minutes. Our typical order starts with a healthcare provider placing an order via, text, mobile or web app. Zipline receives the order, picks and packs the shipment and immediately ship the order which customers can track live.
“Our autonomous aircraft delivers shipment to target facility or drop location within 40 minutes of order placement, and the drone heads back to the hub to be recovered, recharged, and reloaded.”
Speaking on its Nigeria operations, Odiase said that they commenced commercial operations in Kaduna State in August 2022, with its distribution centre, located in Pambegua.
She added that they currently operate three hubs in the state with over 100 deliveries in a day, which she said has supported government’s efforts in sending medical logistics to health facilities within the state.
The hubs, she said has the capacity of delivering medical supplies to over 500 health facilities within an 80km radius at a speed of 110km/hr rain/shine: day/night.
Adding however that Zipline also has the capacity to deliver other products including animal health vaccines and e-commerce products.
In the meantime, Zipline is fine-tuning plans to launch operation in Cross River and Bayelsa State.
The company is currently working with the aviation regulatory authority to finalise the required approvals to operate these autonomous aerial vehicles in both states.
