Looks like we might be celebrating the constant milestones by Wingcopter and partner’s LeiferMichel project for some time yet.

Just last week, the project partners announced that they had received the greenlight to extend the pilot until March this year, and also added non-prescription medical supplies to the list things to be delivered by the drone-electric bike combo. And we have not even mentioned that a Bundesliga team hopped on board as one of the early adopters.

And the list keeps growing.

Wingcopter has just announced that DIY enthusiasts in the LeiferMichel project’s sphere of influence can now also have urgently needed small items from the DIY store Profi Mertins in Michelstadt sent to them quickly and easily using a Wingcopter delivery drone and an electric cargo bike.

Profi Mertins is a specialist DIY and home improvement store that is run as an independent family business in their third generation. The company has been known in the Odenwald region for decades as a reliable partner for both DIY enthusiasts and professional users.

Users can choose from a range of products weighing up to four kilograms – from screws and light bulbs to cordless screwdrivers.

“We are delighted to be part of this innovative project and to be able to offer our customers in Würzberg and Rehbach an additional service,” said Stephan Mertins, Managing Director of Profi Mertins.

“When my grandfather opened our first store 90 years ago, he very quickly purchased a small van to be able to deliver to customers further away. Today, we make shopping easier for customers by flying orders for smaller goods to them by drone – a great development.

Besides Profi Mertins and SV Darmstadt 98, grocery store chain REWE, the local supplier of regional produce, Odenwaldbox are also represented on the platform.

It is the kind of progress and upscaling that the project was dreaming of, according to Ansgar Kadura, co-founder and Chief Services Officer of Wingcopter.

“It’s great that more and more retailers from a wide range of product categories are taking part in this pilot project,” Kadura said.

“This underlines the fact that companies, especially in rural regions, are open to new approaches and are thinking about how they can make life easier for their customers.” 

LieferMichel is a pilot project by Wingcopter and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) as part of the “Innovative Air Mobility” funding directive.

The aim of the research project is to test the use of delivery drones in regular operations and to gain important insights for the future commercialization of such a delivery service. In addition to Wingcopter and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, the city of Michelstadt, REWE, Vodafone and Riese & Müller are also involved in the project.

Said Prof. Dr. Kai-Oliver Schocke, President of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences; “The project shows how necessary it is to supply the population in rural areas with all the products they need on a daily basis.”