Prioritizing sustainable solutions to mitigate risks in drone-based last-mile delivery

The drone integration into last-mile delivery networks presents substantial opportunities for enhancing sustainability and efficiency. However, drone integration into the existing logistics framework presents numerous risks, particularly operational safety and reliability. This study addresses these...

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Main Authors: Chandresh Kumbhani, Ravi Kant, Ravi Shankar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Sustainable Futures
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825001066
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author Chandresh Kumbhani
Ravi Kant
Ravi Shankar
author_facet Chandresh Kumbhani
Ravi Kant
Ravi Shankar
author_sort Chandresh Kumbhani
collection DOAJ
description The drone integration into last-mile delivery networks presents substantial opportunities for enhancing sustainability and efficiency. However, drone integration into the existing logistics framework presents numerous risks, particularly operational safety and reliability. This study addresses these gaps by proposing a novel hybrid framework for systematically evaluating and mitigating risks in drone-based sustainable last-mile delivery. This framework incorporates spherical fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (SF-DEMATEL), spherical fuzzy C-means clustering (SFCMC), and spherical fuzzy evaluation based on distance from average solution (SF-EDAS) using the Indian logistics sector as a case study. The results reveal that technical-related risks, customer adoption risks, and government rules and regulatory risks are critical risk clusters for drones in the last-mile delivery applications. Significant DDSs are strict regulations from the government being the most crucial, followed by provide public education and awareness and workforce retraining. Sensitivity and comparative analysis are conducted to validate the robustness of the framework. This approach holds promise for decision-makers, researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders in the drone industry seeking to make informed choices about risk mitigation strategies.
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spelling doaj-art-320eadd2b01041388ca6b2f5ef35466e2025-08-20T02:39:58ZengElsevierSustainable Futures2666-18882025-06-01910053610.1016/j.sftr.2025.100536Prioritizing sustainable solutions to mitigate risks in drone-based last-mile deliveryChandresh Kumbhani0Ravi Kant1Ravi Shankar2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat-395007, Gujarat, India; Corresponding author.Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat-395007, Gujarat, IndiaDepartment of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi-110016, IndiaThe drone integration into last-mile delivery networks presents substantial opportunities for enhancing sustainability and efficiency. However, drone integration into the existing logistics framework presents numerous risks, particularly operational safety and reliability. This study addresses these gaps by proposing a novel hybrid framework for systematically evaluating and mitigating risks in drone-based sustainable last-mile delivery. This framework incorporates spherical fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (SF-DEMATEL), spherical fuzzy C-means clustering (SFCMC), and spherical fuzzy evaluation based on distance from average solution (SF-EDAS) using the Indian logistics sector as a case study. The results reveal that technical-related risks, customer adoption risks, and government rules and regulatory risks are critical risk clusters for drones in the last-mile delivery applications. Significant DDSs are strict regulations from the government being the most crucial, followed by provide public education and awareness and workforce retraining. Sensitivity and comparative analysis are conducted to validate the robustness of the framework. This approach holds promise for decision-makers, researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders in the drone industry seeking to make informed choices about risk mitigation strategies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825001066Drone deliveryRisksLast-mile deliveryDEMATELEDASLogistics
spellingShingle Chandresh Kumbhani
Ravi Kant
Ravi Shankar
Prioritizing sustainable solutions to mitigate risks in drone-based last-mile delivery
Sustainable Futures
Drone delivery
Risks
Last-mile delivery
DEMATEL
EDAS
Logistics
title Prioritizing sustainable solutions to mitigate risks in drone-based last-mile delivery
title_full Prioritizing sustainable solutions to mitigate risks in drone-based last-mile delivery
title_fullStr Prioritizing sustainable solutions to mitigate risks in drone-based last-mile delivery
title_full_unstemmed Prioritizing sustainable solutions to mitigate risks in drone-based last-mile delivery
title_short Prioritizing sustainable solutions to mitigate risks in drone-based last-mile delivery
title_sort prioritizing sustainable solutions to mitigate risks in drone based last mile delivery
topic Drone delivery
Risks
Last-mile delivery
DEMATEL
EDAS
Logistics
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825001066
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AT ravikant prioritizingsustainablesolutionstomitigaterisksindronebasedlastmiledelivery
AT ravishankar prioritizingsustainablesolutionstomitigaterisksindronebasedlastmiledelivery