<b>Bonn/Guangzhou (China), 16 May 2019</b> – DHL Express, the world’s leading international express delivery service provider, and the world’s leading intelligent autonomous aerial vehicle company EHang have entered into a strategic partnership to jointly launch a fully automated and intelligent smart drone delivery solution to tackle the last-mile delivery challenges in the urban areas of China. The launch ceremony was held today at the EHang Command and Control Center in Guangzhou, with the attendance of senior executives from both companies. This cutting-edge solution takes its inaugural flight for a DHL customer, making DHL the first international express company to provide such a service in China. It marks a new milestone in both companies’ continuous efforts to bring innovative and intelligent solutions with greater automation to the market.<br /><br /> “We are delighted to be partnering with EHang to set a new innovation milestone with this new fully-automated and intelligent drone logistics solution, which combines the strength of the world’s largest international express company together with one of the leading UAV companies in the world,” said Wu Dongming, CEO, DHL Express China. “This is an exciting time for the logistics sector, with continued growth of the Chinese economy and cross-border trade, particularly in South China and the Greater Bay Area, which is home to an increasing number of SMEs and startups. This means there is a tremendous volume of logistics needs, which in turn creates new opportunities for implementing innovative solutions that can continuously drive growth with greater efficiency, sustainability and less cost.”<br /><br />The new customized route, which has been exclusively created for a DHL customer, covers a distance of approximately eight kilometers between the customer premises and the DHL service center in Liaobu, Dongguan, Guangdong Province,. Using the most advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in EHang’s newly-launched Falcon series, featuring the highest level of intelligence, automation, safety and reliability, the new intelligent drone delivery solution overcomes the complex road conditions and traffic congestion common to urban areas. It reduces one-way delivery time from 40 minutes to only eight minutes and can save costs of up to 80% per delivery, with reduced energy consumption and carbon footprint compared with road transportation. <br /><br />Mr. Hu Huazhi, Founder & CEO of EHang, said, “Together with DHL we are very glad to bring the first smart drone delivery service route to China in Guangzhou; this marks a new beginning in building air logistics for smart cities. Riding on today’s launch, we expect smart drone delivery as an innovative logistics solution to be expanded and realized in more areas, and we look forward to working with DHL in building the eco-system for a multi-dimensional urban air transport system.”<br /><br />The EHang Falcon smart drone, with eight propellers on four arms, is designed with multiple redundant systems for full backup, and smart and secure flight control modules. Its highperformance features include vertical take-off and landing, high accuracy GPS and visual identification, smart flight path planning, fully-automated flight and real-time network connection and scheduling. As a fully-automated and intelligent solution, the drones, which can carry up to 5kg of cargo per flight, take off and land atop intelligent cabinets that were specifically developed for the fully autonomous loading and offloading of the shipment. The intelligent cabinets seamlessly connect with automated processes including sorting, scanning and storage of express mail, and will feature high-tech functions such as facial recognition and ID scanning.<br /><br />This smart drone delivery solution will enhance DHL’s delivery capabilities and create a new customer experience in the logistics sector that opens up even more opportunities for sustainable growth and greater economic contribution. Given the growing prominence of B2C business operations and delivery in China, employing drones in express delivery services offers an innovative solution for meeting the increasing demands for time-sensitive delivery, particularly for last mile delivery in urban areas.<br /><br />Building on the launch of its first fully automated, intelligent drone delivery solution in China, DHL will continue to identify new routes that can be developed for clients in need of tailored customer services and logistics solutions and will work closely with EHang to create a second generation of drones in the near future that will further improve capacity and range in droneoperated express delivery.
It has been another hectic month for Lakeba Group, the international technology group currently working on multiple venture projects involving blockchain technology, including Blockchain Against Fraud, Quixxi Connect and Paid By Coins.<br /><br />Over the last few years the company has been investigating and actively working on blockchain technology, how it can be used by businesses, how it can be implemented, and the types of problems it can be applied to. The Blockchain Forum, organised by the German Australian Chamber in Brisbane, was a great opportunity to both showcase the Lakeba vision on the future of Blockchain and to understand how it resonates with those who are likely to be impacted by this technology.<br /><br />Lakeba’s Chief Growth Officer <b>Darren Younger </b>was invited as a panelist to discuss how blockchain will make the difference and how to start implementing this technology in the businesses. Other than contextualising how much blockchain will change the way to do business, and the way we work and interact; the panel also gave valuable insights on how to get started with blockchain, what barriers need to be overcome and the opportunities that should be embraced.<br /><br />The takeway was that it’s now time to stop talking and to start acting.<br /><br />There is no doubt there are hundreds of opportunities related to blockchain, but it is fundamental to know what problem the business needs to solve and if blockchain is the right solution for it. A good understanding of the technology is necessary. Statistically, over the world, the majority doesn’t know how to approach blockchain with confidence.<br /><br />Therefore, Lakeba has been working on Blockchain Australia Magazine, a regular supplement issued with the Australian Financial Review and available on the Lakeba website.<br /><br />This publication regularly features case-studies and real applications of blockchain, useful insights about compliance, stories of success in different industries and the voices of entrepreneurs, developers, customers. Lakeba, inspired by its CEO, Giuseppe Porcelli, believes in the potential of blockchain and is looking forward to detailing some groundbreaking news that will be a world first, right out of Australia.
<b>Today, SSI Schaefer announces its new brand ambassador, Mick Schumacher. The reigning Formula 3 champion, who is competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship this year, has entered a long-term partnership with intralogistics specialist SSI Schaefer. </b><br /><br />Mick Schumacher has been impressing fans, colleagues, and the general public alike for years with his stringent quest for improvement. The 20-year-old son of seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, has long since created his own identity. As a member of the exclusive driving field of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Mick is now one of the best young racers in the world.<br /><br />"Driving for Excellence" is the clear goal for this partnership. “Mick brings a great passion that impresses us here at SSI Schaefer. Giving everything, gaining experience, and accepting challenges that work towards a solution with intent and hyper focus is what connects our company with him. True to our corporate tagline, ‘Think Tomorrow.’, SSI Schaefer looks ahead to achieve the ambitious goals for our customers,” stated Michael Mohr, EVP Sales for SSI Schaefer.<br /><br />Mick Schumacher has been driving for the Italian PREMA team since 2016. The 2018 European Formula 3 Champion just recently started driving for the Formula 2 team this year and he joined into the Ferrari Driver Academy program that promotes young talents. As a young driver, Schumacher started test driving in April for Bahrain in Formula 1 for both, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo Racing. “I’m delighted to welcome SSI Schaefer as a partner because we share the same core values: a down-to-earth attitude, striving for success, innovative solutions, as well as long-term thinking and action. ‘Think Tomorrow.’ suits me too,” stated Schumacher.<br /><br />Various joint activities are planned for the partnership between the intralogistics specialist and the Formula 2 driver. Mick Schumacher is taking part in a panel discussion at one of the world's largest in-house events in the industry this autumn, with international logistics users, expert discussions, keynotes and live demonstrations of logistics systems.<br /><br />But for now, Schumacher’s focus is on Monaco since today marks the fourth racing weekend out of the 12 for Formula 2. The Grand Prix Formula 2 is scheduled from 23rd to the 25th of May 2019 in Monaco. The entire SSI Schaefer family will certainly be cheering.<br /><br />SSI Schaefer, 23 May 2019<br />