We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Subscriptions
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • The Logistics of Defense
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Subscriptions
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • The Logistics of Defense
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » UPS partners with drone maker to deliver blood supplies to rural patients
newsworthy

UPS partners with drone maker to deliver blood supplies to rural patients

May 9, 2016
Ben Ames
No Comments

UPS Inc. has launched a partnership with California-based drone developer Zipline International Inc. to deliver blood supplies to Rwandan health workers, the companies said today.

Photo: Zipline drone
Zipline drones will drop parcels of medicine to blood-transfusion facilities in Rwanda; if the pilot program succeeds, other types of medication will be delivered via drone.

Zipline, based in San Francisco, makes propeller-driven drone aircraft with roughly five-foot wingspans. Launched from a base in Rwanda, each drone will fly at about 60 miles per hour to its target area before dropping a parcel of medicine that drifts to Earth under a small parachute, according to the company's website.

Atlanta-based UPS will support the plan with an $800,000 grant and shared expertise from its global cold-chain and healthcare-delivery experience. The drones will be able to reach patients in remote communities much faster than delivery over the equatorial African nation's mountainous road network, according to Zipline.

The partners will work with global vaccine supplier Gavi, a Geneva, Switzerland-based organization that fosters public-private partnerships to deliver vaccines to children in impoverished nations with poor road infrastructure.

The Rwandan government will launch the project in August, using Zipline drones to make up to 150 deliveries per day of blood to any of the country's 21 transfusing facilities. These transfusions will be targeted mainly at reducing maternal death due to postpartum hemorrhaging, according to UPS.

If the program is successful, UPS and its partners hope to extend it to include deliveries of vaccines and medicines to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, UPS said.

Material Handling Ergonomic & Assist Equipment Disaster Response
KEYWORDS Gavi UPS Zipline Logistics
  • Related Articles

    ForwardX Robotics Partners with Intel to Deliver Automation Solutions

    Drone maker Volansi lands $50 million as investors seek cargo capacity for future Covid-19 vaccine

    Rakuten Super Logistics Partners with DEFY to Donate to Feeding America Foodbanks

Benames
Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.

Recent Articles by Ben Ames

CN offers $33.7 billion to one-up rival’s bid for Kansas City Southern railway

Social issues become a new logistics KPI

Catching the boomerang

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Roadrunner Freight bolsters LTL capabilities with $50 million in new backing

  • Southeastern Freight Lines Promotes Marty Cox to Service Center Manager in Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Pull back or go deeper—how the pandemic influenced shipper-3PL engagement

  • Boston Dynamics trials box-lifting robot for unloading trucks

  • The growing crisis in agriculture exports: interview with Peter Friedmann

Now Playing on DCV-TV

Ae46f19c 518e 4be0 a8b7 0fdf8f1f806c

PlastiCorr: Reusable, Sustainable Brown Box Replacement

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
PlastiCorr is a drop-in replacement for single-use corrugated fiber boxes with identical functionality and enhanced features. Its patented design offers repeatable, reliable performance for re-use up to 70 times.

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Special Report: Supply Chain Trends in Retail & Consumer Goods

  • Fortify Your Operational Resilience

  • Cold Storage Automation: Leveraging Advanced Technologies to Meet Increasing Demand

  • The modern warehouse: Maximizing productivity and capacity

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing