By Chuck Martin

SEAT, a part of the Volkswagen Group, is collaborating with Grupo Sese to launch a drone delivery service for auto parts.

The first parts delivery between two production plants has started with steering wheels and airbags being delivered by drone.

“Today’s flight is the first step in transforming the supply chain in the automotive industry,” states Christian Vollmer, SEAT vice president for production and logistics.  “Delivery using drones is going to revolutionize logistics, as for example in the case of SEAT, it will reduce delivery time by 80%.”

The pilot program is being run under the supervision of the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency with several flights per day.

The drones are allowing for delivery times of 15 minutes between plants, which compares to 90 minutes by truck.