DUBAI, Arab Emirates – DJI Drones are becoming valuable assets for transport and logistics companies. They have already been successfully used in many other industries such as energy, construction and public safety and have helped to minimize safety risks, collect highly-detailed data, make inspections efficient both economically and in terms of time required, add flexibility to any operation.
Drones have also become much more accessible over these past years, and their use has spread globally for both amateurs and professional users.
DJI drones are now entering the logistics industry in full force, offering advanced automated solutions to reinvent and innovate processes.
In 2019, DFDS, a Danish company operating in transport and logistics, decided to adopt DJI drones to explore new business opportunities and boost the efficiency of their harbor terminals inspections.
Every year, DFDS must move more than 3 million trailers in their own stock and from partners. In order to manage all these trailers and locate them at all times during the process, it is fundamental to have a well-defined plan.
All operations were being done manually, which required a lot of time and human resources. DFDS chose to seek out new technologies to upgrade their game. After choosing to adopt DJI platforms to help them in their inspection operations, they experienced a significant increase in efficiency.
They chose the Matrice 210 with an onboard SDK (OSDK), combined with the DJI ZenMuse XT2, DJI’s most powerful camera which offers both visual and thermal sensors. It features smart AI functions that can identify objects, send alerts of issues difficult to see by human eyes and simplify the piloting experience.
“At DJI, we invest in building SDKs that enable industry experts, to create unique solutions for specific industries and solve real-world business problems,” said Jan Gasparic, Director of Strategic Partnerships at DJI. “There are so many opportunities for SDKs across a wide array of sectors that it is almost impossible for us to unlock their full potential ourselves. These efforts support DJI’s goal of providing comprehensive platforms of the future.”
Thanks to dedicated software, DFDS can conduct automated inspections, obtaining valuable insights about trailers such as their exact location and their ID numbers. They can follow the live video feed, read GPS coordinates and relevant timestamp data in order to make sound decisions on how to use the data they receive. Images are then sent to the platform, the data is organized and processed and then sent to the terminal management system, where all the data is collected and can be used by terminal managers.
Thanks to the DJI system, DFDS was able to accurately track all their trailers, saving 15 minutes during the loading and discharging of the trailers from the vessels. This means not only saving time and money but also being much more ecologically sound in their operations.
