Supply Chain weekly wrap-up: 8/25/17 – 8/31/17

Ford and Domino’s join forces to trial pizza delivery in self-driving cars

On Tuesday, it was announced that Ford and Domino’s are collaborating as part of a research trial. The research consists of Ford Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Cars delivering pizzas to consumers, to determine their interactions and reactions to the future idea of self-driving service vehicles. The cars will transport the pizzas in containers produced by Domino’s partner, Roush Enterprises, to keep the food warm. These containers can be unlocked by customers entering their unique delivery code. Furthermore, in this trial, the self-driving vehicles will have a safety driver behind the wheel for observations and precautionary measures.

Domino’s customers in the Ann Arbor region will be picked at random during this research test. The delivery can be tracked via the Domino’s app. However, customers can decide to not take part in the trial. The reason behind this collaboration and experiment is that Ford aims to create a fleet of autonomous vehicles for the service industry by 2021. Ford believes the customers’ user experience of self-driving technology is an essential aspect of the platform being developed. Therefore, the trial discovers what people want in an autonomous delivery vehicle, so modifications can be made now while the design is yet to be confirmed.

To find out more about this research trial, click here.

Ernst & Young (EY) establishes car sharing platform using blockchain technology

This week, EY, an accounting and consulting firm, announced the launch of ‘Tesseract’. Tesseract is an integrated mobility program supported by blockchain technology. This platform simplifies shared vehicle ownership and provides direct access to a variety of vehicles for groups of individuals and companies. Cars, trucks, fleets and other transport options are all obtainable via the platform. Tesseract functions through vehicle, journey and ownership details being digitally recorded on the blockchain. The asset ownership can vary with vehicles being partially or fully owned. Furthermore, a usage-based payment structure is used to organize transactions automatically between all parties involved through a single-source.

Stakeholders, for example, mobility and transport companies, infrastructure providers and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), are given the chance to establish new ways to add value and revenue to their businesses through this platform. Moreover, it would make funding of expensive assets easier for transport establishments and help lay the foundations for ownership of autonomous vehicle fleets in the future. Overall, the Tesseract platform helps to create a more integrated and sustainable automotive and transportation industry.

To read more about this platform, click here.

Tropical Storm Harvey interrupts transportation networks

On Monday, it was reported that tropical storm Harvey was causing major problems for the transportation center in the Houston area; this on top of numerous other tragedies residents are experiencing as a result of the storm. Freight transportation has practically come to a halt with catastrophic flooding and rising waters blocking railroads and parts of the highway. Furthermore, several sea ports have been closed to the majority of ships in Houston and Corpus Christi. As a result, railway networks, trucking fleets and shipping lines have had to find alternative routes. In addition, it may be hard for retailers to obtain enough trucks for shipping goods as most available trucks are being used for relief efforts.

It is unknown when transportation operations will start again. The water would need to be inspected for any wreckage by the Coast Guard and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before the shipping channels can run again. Therefore, once the storm is over, it still could be some time before the floodwaters decrease enough for freight transportation to begin again.

Find more information here.

Have a great weekend!

Header photo: one photo/shutterstock.com