Zenbird Editorial TeamIn mountainous areas throughout Japan, disasters can lead to transportation risks for supplies, difficulties in purchasing goods, and the closure of retail stores. To address these challenges, AXIS Co., Ltd. has developed a hyper-localized lifestyle platform called “Bird,” which integrates drones, IT, and delivery to ensure logistics continuity in depopulating mountainous areas. The company will participate in a demonstration experiment on March 20th to address these issues.
The demonstration experiment is the second phase of the “Yazu Future Countryside Project,” a collaborative agreement between Yazu-cho, C7 Hayabusa Co., Ltd., and The Bank of Tottori, Ltd. The experiment will be carried out in collaboration with Cocokara Fine, Inc. and NEXT DELIVERY Co., Ltd., and will aim to solve the problem of shopping weakness through home delivery services.
AXIS’s “Bird” platform aims to deliver daily necessities, food, prescription drugs, and other items through the same logistics network, in collaboration with local retailers and restaurants, to promote the circulation of the local economy. Cocokara Fine, Inc. in the Seino Holdings Group will support the demonstration experiment by sharing its expertise with AXIS.
The demonstration experiment will take place in Hachigashira-cho, a mountainous area in the southeastern part of Tottori Prefecture. The experiment aims to connect land transportation and drone delivery to the last mile of transportation in the mountainous area. This will be achieved by introducing the new smart logistics system, SkyHub ®, and collaborating with the ultra-localized lifestyle platform “Bird.” The platform will work with local supermarkets and restaurants to leverage regional logistics and delivery functions. This is the first attempt to collaborate and jointly deliver with local businesses and connect to the system for land transportation and the SkyHub ® net order application.
The aim of the experiment is to create a practical and feasible logistics network beyond the demonstration. Four experiments will be conducted on the day of the experiment, including support material transportation, joint delivery with food delivery, shopping support, and inter-base transportation with Michi-no-eki roadside stations. Experiment ③ will involve a delivery person picking up a product from the store and transporting it by land to Hayabusa Lab., which serves as a logistics base and drone takeoff location. The entire logistics and system operation will be verified for its effectiveness, and issues for implementation will be addressed.
