Llamasoft and Zipline working to develop drones to deliver crucial medical supplies

Supply chain technology firm Llamasoft is partnering with Zipline, a tech innovator that operates the world’s only drone delivery system of national scale, to send urgent medical supplies to patients all over the world. 

Zipline has been working with LLamasoft to simulate their operations and quantify the cost and performance benefits their technology can bring to existing public health supply chains.

Zipline has been operating in Rwanda since October of 2016, and is now expanding its services into Tanzania. Over the course of the collaboration, Zipline has engaged LLamasoft to analyze its operations in both Rwanda and in Tanzania.

In Tanzania, Zipline plans to operate four distribution centers, the first of which will be in Dodoma, the country’s capital. LLamasoft is currently working with Zipline to help design their Dodoma operations.

“As Zipline builds the agile supply chain of the future, LLamasoft’s expertise in supply chain modeling and optimization has been extremely valuable,” said Will Hetzler, co-founder of Zipline.

“LLamasoft is widely respected in the global health community, and they already worked to optimize portions of the public health supply chains in many of the countries where Zipline plans to operate. LLamasoft’s familiarity and credibility with these health systems has helped Zipline communicate the value of our services.”

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LLamasoft’s global impact team has worked with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Medical Stores Department on other supply chain projects in recent years, including a transportation optimization project and a strategic review of their supply chain.

LLamasoft will draw on this experience to help Zipline maximize the benefit of their integration into the Tanzanian public health supply chain.

“Zipline is one of the most innovative companies out there, not only in the world of public health supply chains, but supply chains more broadly,” said Sid Rupani, Regional Director for LLamasoft IMEA. “We at LLamasoft’s Global Impact Team are excited to be working with Zipline to quantify the expected value they can bring to public health supply chains and to help design their operations.

“This collaboration fits squarely into our mission as a prime example of a fascinating supply chain design problem and one that could potentially deliver great positive social impact.”