Parcel and Postal Technology International
  • News
    • A-E
      • Automation
      • Business Diversification
      • Construction / Development
      • Cross-border
      • Delivery
      • E-commerce
      • Expo
    • F-O
      • Freight
      • IT & Systems
      • Last Mile
      • Lockers / PUDO
      • Logistics
      • Mail
      • Operations
    • P-R
      • Packets
      • Parcels
      • Peak
      • Retail
      • Returns
    • S-Z
      • Sorting Systems
      • Staff / Personnel
      • Sustainability
      • Technology
      • Vehicles / Fleet
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    • March 2025
    • September 2023
    • June 2023
    • March 2023
    • December 2022
    • SHOWCASE 2019
    • Archive Issues
    • Subscribe Free!
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Analysis
  • Awards
    • 2025 Awards
    • Previous Winners
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Parcel + Post Expo
LinkedIn YouTube Twitter
  • Sign-up for Breaking News Emails
  • Meet the Editors
  • Contact Us
  • Media Pack
Subscribe
LinkedIn Facebook
Parcel and Postal Technology International
  • News
      • Automation
      • Business Diversification
      • Construction / Development
      • Cross-border
      • Delivery
      • E-commerce
      • Expo
      • Freight
      • IT & Systems
      • Last Mile
      • Lockers / PUDO
      • Logistics
      • Mail
      • Operations
      • Packets
      • Parcels
      • Peak
      • Retail
      • Returns
      • Sorting Systems
      • Staff / Personnel
      • Sustainability
      • Technology
      • Vehicles / Fleet
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    1. December 2024
    2. September 2024
    3. June 2024
    4. March 2024
    5. SHOWCASE 2019
    6. Subscribe Free!
    Featured
    April 2, 2025

    In this Issue – March 2025

    Online Magazines By Web Team
    Recent

    In this Issue – March 2025

    April 2, 2025

    In this Issue – December 2024

    December 5, 2024

    In this Issue – September 2024

    September 19, 2024
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Analysis
  • Awards
    • 2025 Awards
    • 2024 Award Winners
    • 2023 Award Winners
    • 2022 Award Winners
    • 2021 Award Winners
    • 2020 Award Winners
    • 2019 Award Winners
    • Previous Winners
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Parcel + Post Expo
LinkedIn Facebook
Subscribe
Parcel and Postal Technology International

Delivery Innovation of the Year: Drones in Action for Public Health, Swiss Post

Swiss Post has been
using autonomous drones
to deliver urgent medical
goods since October 2017

In early 2015 discussions between Swiss Post and various hospitals, blood-testing laboratories and doctors in Switzerland showed the inefficiency of the logistics processes used within the medical and pharmaceutical sector. Swiss hospitals transport urgent medical goods using expensive in house couriers, taxis or even ambulances. This results in high costs, significant time losses, and considerable coordination efforts.

Swiss Post set out to solve some of these challenges by looking at how medical goods can be transported faster and more cost-efficiently. As a result, since October 2017 the post has been using autonomous transportation drones, which fly at around 72km/h (45mph), to carry urgently required medical goods quickly, cost-effectively and flexibly from A to B, leading to savings of up to 80% in transportation time and costs.

“The autonomous drones have been commercially operating in Lugano, a city in southern Switzerland, since October 2017, and transporting blood samples between two hospitals,” says Andrea Marrazzo, head of autonomous delivery, Swiss Post. As a result, the hospitals have reduced the previous transportation time of 30-45 minutes by taxi to just three to four minutes by drone. This shortens the patient’s treatment time while enhancing treatment quality. Swiss Post, meanwhile, has the opportunity to offer a new transportation service in the healthcare market, which will allow it to expand its position in the field of logistics outsourcing.

Technology and regulations

Swiss Post entered into a long-term technological partnership with drone manufacturer Matternet with the goal  of establishing transportation drones as  a means of conveyance. “The drones are faster, independent of traffic volume and more ecological,” adds Janick Mischler, project manager, development and innovation, Swiss Post. “They are on-demand and available whenever they are needed, so the availability is much better than with traditional couriers or taxis.”

To make this project a reality, a number of regulations had to be considered, as Marrazzo explains: “The Federal Office of Civil Aviation in Switzerland defines the regulatory conditions that have to be fulfilled to receive an approval for beyond visual line of sight operations. In the application, you have to prove that your vehicle is as safe as possible. For example, our Matternet drone has redundant controlling systems and a parachute that is automatically deployed in the unexpected event of a total system failure. The application process is very demanding and it takes months or even years to reach the requested level of maturity.”

Aside from meeting the different regulatory conditions, Swiss Post also gained a lot of support from stakeholders keen to make sure the project was a success. “We received great support from many different stakeholders,” says Mischler. “Our management directors have always supported our plans and helped to push this project forward to the authorities. The authorities have also been very supportive and open minded. They have worked hard to enable rather than prevent autonomous drone operations.”

Marrazzo continues, “The greatest thank you goes to the hospital group of Lugano, especially its CEO Luca Jelmoni, who is a pioneer. The hospital is actually the first company worldwide that has been using delivery drones in an urban area for its logistics.”

As a result of the success of the medical goods autonomous transportation project, Swiss Post has received a lot of interest in drone logistics from the healthcare sector.

Future plans

“We are in contact with many prospective customers all over Switzerland, including hospitals, blood labs and medical facilities,” says Marrazzo. “They have requested our drone delivery solution to improve their logistics. We have begun expansion of the solution by conducting test operations in the cities of Berne and Zurich in June 2018. All partners involved have already expressed interest in further cooperation.”

Swiss Post is currently focusing on medical applications for drone delivery, but it is considering new drone services in other areas. Mischler explains, “There are no concrete plans at the moment, so we can’t be certain which industry could be served next. Drones are primarily suitable for transporting special deliveries. They will complement, but not replace, traditional parcel delivery.”

Marrazzo concludes, “This award shows the rising relevance and importance of drones as a method of delivery. We remember people’s perception of drones when we started the first trials in summer 2015, when everyone thought drones were a toy and our team at Swiss Post was playing around. The recent progress and especially this award prove that the perception has changed dramatically in the last three years.”

Watch this video to learn more:

https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sequenz_DE_10Mbit_EN.mp4
https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Postal-Technology-Awards-–-Delivery-Innovation-of-the-Year-Award-1.mp4

Also shortlisted:

  • Same-day time slot delivery, On the dot
  • Ground-based delivery robot, Posten Norge and Buddy Mobility
  • Mapping software, Locpin
  • Postal Robotics, Image Architects and ZCS International
  • Drone Pay by Worldpay

Receive breaking stories and features in your inbox each week, for free


Enter your email address:


Latest News

Royal Mail adds 7,000th electric vehicle to fleet

May 16, 2025

Australia Post warns customers about rising number of parcel scam messages

May 16, 2025

DHL adds 30,000m2 warehouse to health logistics campus in Germany

May 16, 2025
Getting in Touch
  • Contact Us / Advertiser
  • Meet the Editors
  • Download Media Pack
  • Breaking News Emails
Our Social Channels
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
Supplier Spotlights
  • Bloq.it
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Notice & Takedown Policy
  • Site FAQs
© 2025 UKi Media & Events a division of UKIP Media & Events Ltd

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe GDPR Cookie Consent plugin sets the cookie to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Necessary" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie stores user consent for cookies in the category "Others".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie stores the user consent for cookies in the category "Performance".
elementorneverThe website's WordPress theme uses this cookie. It allows the website owner to implement or change the website's content in real-time.
JSESSIONIDsessionNew Relic uses this cookie to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application.

Functional

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

CookieDurationDescription
__cf_bm30 minutesCloudflare set the cookie to support Cloudflare Bot Management.

Analytics

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

CookieDurationDescription
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
uidsessionThis is a Google UserID cookie that tracks users across various website segments.
vuid1 year 1 month 4 daysVimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos on the website.
_ga1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.

Advertisement

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

CookieDurationDescription
OAGEOsessionOpenX sets this cookie to avoid the repeated display of the same ad.
OAID1 yearCookie set to record whether the user has opted out of the collection of information by the AdsWizz Service Cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysYouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYoutube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.

Others

Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.

CookieDurationDescription
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA5 months 27 daysDescription is currently not available.

SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by