Amazon swoops in with a potential solution to the industrial stock shortage

By Alex Eagleton, Commercial Agency
When the Industrial Agency team sat down at the end of 2016 to discuss our expectations for the year ahead, we were focused on the key issues that most impact on us: access links, supply not meeting demand and a reluctance to invest in speculative development.
One thing we hadn’t factored in was the possibility of Flying Warehouses.
It might sound like something from a Harry Potter movie, but apparently, it’s an actual thing.
According to the BBC, Amazon has apparently filed a patent for the warehouses, equipped with fleets of drones to deliver to consumers, with a view to capitalising on calendar-led opportunities such as major sporting events or music festivals.
Amazon states that the ‘airborne fulfilment centres’ – I prefer ‘flying warehouses’ – used in conjunction with the drones, would enable the business to deliver goods more quickly than those on the ground.
To date, the company hasn’t commented on the patent, which was filed in 2014.
While the wacky hi-tech concept might well address the shortage of stock available out there to house dark stores and other warehouses, it seems like a far more costly solution and one that is surely several years in coming to fruition.
Nonetheless, it’s got the industrial market buzzing – andI don’t mean with the sound of the drones!