Undergoing testing in Sion: the self-driving Postbus.

A self-driving delivery robot brings urgently required medication from the pharmacy to a patient’s home.

In the future, parcels may be transported by drones to remote or inaccessible areas.

Every major innovation in history started with somebody giving it a shot.Claudia Pletscher
Head of Development & Innovation

Development focus: Autonomous technologies

New technologies for the core business of tomorrow

What impact will autonomous delivery robots have on the core business? How will self-driving Postbuses and drones change customer requirements? Swiss Post is taking a proactive approach to the technological trends of the future.

A self-driving Postbus is navigating the streets of Sion skilfully and safely. Elsewhere, a self-driving delivery robot may soon be bringing a hot meal to an elderly person. Or a Swiss Post drone could transport a blood sample quickly and reliably from a remote country doctor’s office to the laboratory.

It is difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future. The author Mark Twain knew this; and Swiss Post knows it too. Nevertheless, one thing is clear: the trend towards the autonomous transport of goods or people could fundamentally change Swiss Post’s core business.

Innovation is part of Swiss Post’s DNA

That’s why Swiss Post is looking so closely at these issues. “As a pace-setter in the logistics sector, Swiss Post not only has to examine innovative solutions, it has to shape them,” says Dieter Bambauer, Head of PostLogistics. Swiss Post therefore intends to help shape drone technology and delivery robots from the outset, and to identify at an early stage where these initiatives can usefully be integrated into its processes to improve efficiency.

Throughout Swiss Post’s history, the company has reinvented itself again and again, as illustrated by the evolution in transport from the mail coach through diesel to hybrid and electric buses. “Identifying, testing and introducing technological innovations is part of Swiss Post’s DNA,” emphasizes Claudia Pletscher, Head of Development & Innovation. The reality is simple: if Swiss Post doesn’t adopt the new technologies, others will anyway – companies such as Google, Amazon and Apple. “Swiss Post wants to be at the forefront of these trends in order to develop future solutions in line with the requirements of the Swiss people and economy,” says Claudia Pletscher.

Everything major starts with trial and error

Some of the tests with delivery robots and drones may look like just playing around. But the impression is deceptive. “Every major innovation in history started with somebody giving it a shot,” says Claudia Pletscher. The first smartphone (1993) – large, unwieldy and unreliable – was a gimmick. The first car (1900), with a speed of only six kilometres an hour, was also a plaything.