Innovation does not mean that everything always works perfectly right away.
Innovation means trying anyway.
At Ursa-Chemie GmbH, we are currently testing internal sample shipping between our plants using drones – a truly pioneering project.
And: The flight is operating perfectly from a technical point of view.
Current status
We flew irregularly.
The reason for this is not technical, but rather organisational challenges.
Challenge 1: Pilot availability
Currently, five employees have a drone pilot licence.
Nevertheless, test flights are not yet very common.
Why?
- The pilots work in the laboratory and in production.
- Both areas must have capacity at the same time.
- This is not always feasible in day-to-day business.
Solution idea:
Train more drone personnel on both sides to be able to respond more flexibly.
Challenge 2: Drone location & procedure
The current flight path:
Plant 2 → Plant 1 → Plant 2
Die Drohne startet derzeit in Werk 2, bringt die Probe zu Werk 1 (QS-Labor) und kehrt anschließend zurück.
This creates additional preparation work, especially for production staff.
We are therefore currently examining:
Would a sequence of Plant 1 → Plant 2 → Plant 1 be more efficient?
Here too, the project is open-ended.
This is how a drone flight currently works
Despite all the optimisation ideas, the process is clearly structured:
- Coordination between production and QA laboratory
- Check battery level
- Upgrade and assemble drone
- Invite sample securely
- Perform drone flight
- take a sample
- Perform return flight
- Disarm the drone again
Technically, the flight works reliably – now it’s a matter of further optimising processes.
Why we are celebrating the project anyway
What do we particularly like?
- That we dare to break new ground
- That we are consciously launching a pioneering project
- That everything is considered with an open mind
- That employees are actively involved
And yes – this new technology is also being discussed among my circle of friends.
Denn innovative Lösungen entstehen nur, wenn man sie ausprobiert.
Conclusion
For us, sending samples by drone is not a finished product, but a learning process.
The technology is impressive. Now we are working on availability, organisation and efficiency.
We are staying on the ball.