Comtet Hans E, Keitsch Martina, Johannessen Karl-Arne
The Intervention Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, 0424, Norway.
Department of Design, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, 7491, Norway.
J Multidiscip Healthc. 2022 Aug 31;15:1871-1885. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S371957. eCollection 2022.
Drones are an emerging technology with the potential to improve laboratory logistics. This study is based on the hypothesis that the implementation of drones will benefit from an understanding of the current system and that existing transport solutions should be optimized before drone solutions are considered. It focuses on carriers transporting biological material today by car along a traditional circular route. It aims to explore how the current transport service is organized, identify areas for improvement, and investigate carriers' perceptions of how drones could be integrated into or substituted for their services.
A mixed-methods approach was applied, combining a questionnaire, shadowing of nine transport trips, semi-structured interviews, and time assessments.
The carriers shared insights into how to optimize existing transport solutions in terms of structure, culture, attitudes, and overall functionality. Most carriers expressed in the questionnaire that they were little involved in innovation work. The time assessment revealed that not the driving times, but the loading times had the highest deviations from plans and thus represented the area with the greatest potential for simple improvements. Questions about the use and organizational impact of drones are generated, and their prospects are discussed from a broad sociotechnical perspective.
Our concept was to broaden our understanding of implementing drones into existing systems in a fairly simple setting. Although improved logistics may take place without complex processes, future research opportunities such as the impact of drones on organizational processes and social dynamics in the adoption of drones may be needed if more complex systems are involved. The paper proposes experimenting with, and learning from, transport with "road vehicles" and drones in combination and suggests that improvements should be made to existing transport solutions before drones are implemented.
无人机是一项新兴技术，具有改善实验室物流的潜力。本研究基于这样的假设，即无人机的应用将受益于对当前系统的了解，并且在考虑无人机解决方案之前应优化现有的运输解决方案。它关注的是目前通过汽车沿传统环形路线运输生物材料的运输商。其目的是探索当前运输服务是如何组织的，确定改进领域，并调查运输商对无人机如何融入或替代其服务的看法。
采用了混合方法，结合了问卷调查、对九次运输行程的跟踪、半结构化访谈和时间评估。
运输商分享了关于如何在结构、文化、态度和整体功能方面优化现有运输解决方案的见解。大多数运输商在问卷中表示他们很少参与创新工作。时间评估显示，与计划偏差最大的不是驾驶时间，而是装载时间，因此装载时间是最有潜力进行简单改进的领域。由此产生了关于无人机使用及其组织影响的问题，并从广泛的社会技术角度讨论了其前景。
我们的理念是在一个相当简单的环境中拓宽对将无人机应用于现有系统的理解。虽然无需复杂流程即可实现物流改善，但如果涉及更复杂的系统，可能需要开展未来的研究，比如无人机对组织流程和采用无人机过程中的社会动态的影响。本文建议对“公路车辆”与无人机组合运输进行试验并从中学习，并建议在实施无人机之前应对现有运输解决方案进行改进。
