Abstract
PurposeAlthough the industrial application of drones is increasing quickly, there is a scarcity of applications in manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to explore current and potential applications of drones in manufacturing, examine the opportunities and challenges involved and propose a research agenda.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports the result of an extensive qualitative investigation into an emerging phenomenon. The authors build on the literature on advanced manufacturing technologies. Data collected through in-depth interviews with 66 drone experts from 56 drone vendors and related services are analyzed using an inductive research design.FindingsDrones represent a promising AMT that is expected to be used in several applications in manufacturing in the next few years. This paper proposes a typology of drone applications in manufacturing, explains opportunities and challenges involved and develops a research agenda. The typology categorizes four types of applications based on the drones’ capabilities to “see,” “sense,” “move” and “transform.”Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed research agenda offers a guide for future research on drones in manufacturing. There are many research opportunities in the domains of industrial engineering, technology development and behavioral operations.Practical implicationsGuidance on current and promising potentials of drones in manufacturing is provided to practitioners. Particularly interesting applications are those that help manufacturers “see” and “sense” data in their factories. Applications that “move” or “transform” objects are scarcer, and they make sense only in special cases in very large manufacturing facilities.Originality/valueThe application of drones in manufacturing is in its infancy, but is foreseen to grow rapidly over the next decade. This paper presents the first academically rigorous analysis of potential applications of drones in manufacturing. An original and theory-informed typology for drone applications is a timely contribution to the nascent literature. The research agenda presented assists the establishment of a new stream of literature on drones in manufacturing.
Highlights
Recent advancement in technologies challenge the way companies manufacture and deliver products
This paper proposes a typology of drone applications in manufacturing, explains opportunities and challenges involved and develops a research agenda
In our proposal of a research agenda for industrial applications of drones in manufacturing, we first summarize the current state of drones in manufacturing, and we discuss the findings in light of the advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) literature
Summary
Recent advancement in technologies challenge the way companies manufacture and deliver products. Deradjat and Minshall, 2017; Fox, 2010; Hedelind and Jackson, 2011; Steenhuis and Pretorius, 2017). Another promising technology is the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV ), which is commonly known as a drone. Many manufacturers have begun to consider the benefits of drone technology for their businesses. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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