Brian Riley, Digital Technical Lead at OX Delivers, joined us at The Manufacturer Studio at Smart Factory Expo to explain how the company is looking to tackle this challenge with its ‘transport-as-a-service’ strategy and its unique OX truck.
Africa is the least developed continent outside of Antarctica. Yet it’s a place where entrepreneurs abound. Indeed, according to the African Development Bank, 22% of Africa’s working age population are starting businesses. This is the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world.
One of the challenges often facing such entrepreneurs is logistics i.e., how to move products around a continent so vast and get them to the people who want to buy them.
Brian Riley, Digital Technical Lead at OX Delivers, joined us at The Manufacturer Studio at Smart Factory Expo to explain how the company is looking to tackle this challenge with its ‘transport-as-a-service’ strategy and its unique OX truck.
Tell us a bit more about OX Delivers
OX Delivers is a start-up business that provides logistics services to emerging markets. Right now, we operate four depots in Rwanda as a test location for us to prove the model. We provide logistics services to entrepreneurs who live in rural communities. And to support that we have an R&D and engineering base here in the UK where we’re developing an electric vehicle.
What sort of challenges are you helping to solve?
The whole purpose of OX is to address Africa’s transport poverty. It’s a continent of growth and entrepreneurs, however, a lack of capital often means people resort to bicycles or even animals for their transport requirements. The trucks that are available are expensive, not particularly green and are quite unreliable. It’s a vicious circle that people get stuck in and OX was founded to try and help them out.
Brian Riley, Digital Technical Lead at OX Delivers, talks to The Manufacturer’s Joe Bush at Smart Factory Expo 2022
You mentioned that you’re piloting in Africa. Is your solution going to be deployed in other developing regions too?
That’s definitely the plan. We’re trying to make what we’re doing in Rwanda a success and, thus far, it has been just that. But ultimately, there’s South America, India and the rest of Asia that could all potentially benefit, so there have been discussions internally about those places going forward.
Range anxiety has always been a concern when it comes to EVs. I imagine that’s certainly true in a place like Africa
OX is in a unique position whereby we will manufacture the trucks, then own and operate them. We have our own depots in these markets, so we have the means tied to the infrastructure to recharge and reservice as needs be.
We’re using digital twins to help us determine which trucks are best suited for which jobs and routes, enabling us to change the operating parameters of the truck as necessary.
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