Bright Future for Industrial Drones

Bright Future for Industrial Drones
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Companies have only scratched the surface of what airborne drones can do. Over the next two decades, businesses will put industrial drones to work monitoring facilities, tracking shipments, and, perhaps even delivering groceries to your doorstep. BCG estimates that by 2050, the industrial drone fleet in Europe and the US will comprise more than 1 million units and generate $50 billion per year in product and service revenues.

Services that operate drones and manage drone data for end-user companies will generate most of the value because most end-user companies will turn over actual operation and maintenance of drones to third-party services. And the data that drones capture will create value for end users by helping identify new operating efficiencies. In some industries, drones will enable new business models and business opportunities.

Today, nobody can anticipate the full range of industrial drone applications. Some are obvious, but in many industries, companies have yet to discover specific applications. Companies can start by thinking about the kinds of data that could be captured more efficiently with drones than with current methods and how they could use that data. Then they can determine how much drone expertise they wll need to reap the business benefits that they identify.

Around the world, hobbyists and military forces have been using airborne drones for years. Now, these tiny (or somewhat bigger) flying machines are poised to become common in all sorts of businesses. Compact drones with cameras are being deployed to inspect oil rigs, monitor agricultural fields and mines, and check on telecom towers. Next-generation industrial drones will be dispatched to fly beyond the visual line of sight so that they can scan hundreds of miles of pipeline, deliver packages, or support search-and-rescue operations. Eventually, full-size pilot-optional cargo and passenger planes could join the airborne-drone fleet.

BCG sees the use of industrial drones unfolding in three waves. The first, currently underway, involves line-of-sight applications in which an operator guides a drone and maintains visual contact. The second, ramping up within 5 years, will introduce remote applications, such as observation of ocean-going ships. The third wave, which could be up to 25 years away, would introduce full-size pilot-optional aircraft. They expect very rapid unit growth of wave 1 and 2 drones through 2030 as companies build up drone fleets in Europe and the US, followed by steady growth through 2050, when the industry will be well established.