Tsuruga City, Seino HD, Aeronext conclude a comprehensive cooperation agreement for the construction of new smart logistics that contributes to solving regional issues by utilizing next-generation advanced technology including drones.

Tsuruga City (Mayor: Takanobu Fuchikami), Seino Holdings Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Ogaki City, Gifu Prefecture, President: Yoshitaka Taguchi, hereinafter Seino HD), and Aeronext Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, CEO Keisuke Toji, hereinafter referred to as Aeronext) signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement on November 10, 2021 for the construction of new smart logistics that contributes to improving regional issues by utilizing next-generation, advanced technology, including drones.
Through mutual cooperation and cooperation, this agreement is aimed at contributing to solutions for regional issues such as aging and depopulation, decarbonization efforts, renewable energy, such as hydrogen, and zero-emission logistics, which fit the goals of Tsuruga City. The agreement’s purpose is building a new logistics business model, utilizing next-generation advanced technology, including drone delivery demonstration experiments in the Arachi area.

<Agreement Outline>
1. Date
November 10, 2021

2. Agreement Areas
By utilizing next-generation advanced technology, including drones, the parties agree on and will cooperate in the following:

（１）Industrial infrastructure development including local employment, human resources education, human resources development
（２）Securing sustainable local transportation and logistics, and the creation of a comfortable living environment
（３）Contributions to regional disaster prevention and regional decarbonization, and matters related to the development of new infrastructure

３． Specific Activities (Planned)
（１）Conducting demonstration experiments of on-demand delivery services including drone delivery and shopping services in the Arachi area, which if facing issues with shopping and medical care due to the closure of shops, and etc.
（2）Examination for implementation of new smart logistics “SkyHub®*1” that combines drone delivery and land transportation promoted by Seino HD and Aeronext.

Tsuruga City Mayor Takanobu Fuchikami, Arachi Council, Chairman Yutaka Maekawa, Seino HD Executive Officer Shuji Kawai, and Aeronext CEO Keisuke Toji attended the signing ceremony of the comprehensive cooperation agreement held at Tsuruga City Hall on November 10. Each commented as follows:

<Comments from Tsuruga City Mayor Takanobu Fuchikami >
By utilizing next-generation technologies including drones, we would like to make local life convenient, create a comfortable environment to live in, and maximize use for disaster prevention.
Tsuruga City has goals for being a zero-carbon city, and we believe that smart logistics initiatives, including drone delivery, will greatly contribute to decarbonization. We believe this significantly contributes not only to realizing our city’s goals, but also for Japan’s 2050 carbon neutral goal, as well.

<Comments from Arachi Council, Chairman Yutaka Maekawa>
In the Arachi area, the only convenience store in the area went out of business last year, and it is now necessary to drive to the city center for shopping. However, there are many elderly people who cannot drive a car. With the aging of the population continuing, we have great expectations for services such as drone assisted shopping.
I also hope that the convenience of life will make Arachi, which is rich in nature, a desirable place to live.

<Comments from Seino Holdings Co., Ltd. Executive Officer Shuji Kawai>
Seino Holdings will respond to changes in lifestyle and structure in the last mile delivery area, which makes use of the strengths of trunk transportation, and will actively build a last mile that contributes to the solution of social issues, such as measures for vulnerable shoppers and households in need. Above all, the use of drones in logistics is one of the technologies expected to contribute significantly in the areas of labor saving and unmanned operation. To pursue the creation of a comfortable living environment and resident services, we will continue to investigate how the role played by logistics and the implementation of technology can contribute.

<Comments from Aeronext Inc. CEO Keisuke Toji>
Aeronext has developed a new smart logistics “SkyHub®” that includes drone delivery, in collaboration with the Seino Group and SkyHub® is currently in use in Kosuge Village, Yamanashi Prefecture and Kamishihoro Town, Hokkaido. In Tsuruga City, where there are depopulated areas coupled with more urban areas that are part of the same city, we seek to build a model for many cities in Japan with similar make-ups. This new societal infrastructure utilizing new technologies such as drones, can serve as a role model for those cities with similar issues. We will continue to collaborate on services that can contribute to improving and reviving the quality of life and convenience.

Under this cooperation agreement, the parties will cooperate and collaborate with each other to contribute to regional revitalization and the needs of the citizens of Tsuruga City utilizing next-generation advanced technology including drones, to aid in regional employment and human resources education, human resources development, industrial infrastructure development, securing sustainable regional transportation and logistics, creating a comfortable living environment, contributing to regional disaster prevention and decarbonization of the region.

Reference

*1 SkyHub®︎
A new smart logistics system that connects existing logistics and drone logistics jointly promoted by Aeronext and Seino Holdings Co., Ltd., and connects the ground and air infrastructure so that goods can be delivered anytime, anywhere. It features an open platform and standardized mechanism that incorporates drone delivery and realizes joint delivery. The introduction of SkyHub will contribute to solving social issues in the region, such as population decline, labor shortage due to declining birthrate and aging population, traffic problems in specific depopulated areas, medical problems, disaster countermeasures, and measures against vulnerable logistics from the aspect of logistics reform. It is possible to raise the satisfaction level of residents and communities by improving the convenience and quality of life of residents, which is also meaningful in promoting regional revitalization.

【About Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture】
Located in the center of Fukui prefecture, the north faces the Sea of Japan, and the other three sides are lined with mountains which surround plains. With an area of 251.41 m2, and a habitable area of 53.07 m2, there are few plains and many mountainous areas.
We are implementing efforts for decarbonization, such as experiments with a virtual power plant and power from hydrogen derived from renewable energy for our goal of reducing greenhouse gases and becoming a zero carbon city by 2050.
About Tsuruga https://www.city.tsuruga.lg.jp/index.html

【About Arachi, Tsurugu city, Fukui Prefecture】
Bordering Shiga prefecture, we have long been a key point for logistics, connecting Kinki and Hokuriku. In the early Edo period, ships carrying rice, and other goods from the Hokuriku region entered Tsuruga Port and were transported from Tsuruga Port to Osaka via Aiki, making us a popular logistics hub. In addition, when the Tsuruga Lake Biwa Canal was conceived in the 19th century, we opened a part of it, the “Hikida Funagawa.” In the Meiji era, we saw the the first railway on the Sea of Japan side opened, in addition to the oldest existing railway tunnel in Japan, the Kotone Tunnel. Further we saw the longest tunnel in Japan at that time constructed by only Japanese people, the Yanagase Tunnel.
Last year, a convenience store in the area closed, and shopping has become an issue for the region.

【About Seino HD】
Seino Holdings strives to be a value-creating comprehensive logistics trading company and aims to “provide value that transcends time and space” to its customers. Seino embraces an overall strategy of the group is to embody “Open Public Platform Construction (OPP)” that provides better and optimal services to customers through connections both inside and outside the industry in an open-neutral relationship in order to build a platform that is easy for customers and other companies in the same industry to use. In the last mile area, we are actively promoting and expanding the construction of a last mile O.P.P. that solves social issues such as measures for vulnerable shopping and measures for lower income families, while responding to changes in lifestyle and structure.
*About Seino Holding: https://www.seino.co.jp/seino/shd/overall-condition/

【About Aeronext】
Aeronext, an IP driven R & D technology startup for next-generation drones, is a company that designs the sky through technology to create a world where the sky becomes a social infrastructure, is economized, and solves social issues through drones. The core technology is 4D GRAVITY®︎, a unique structural design technology that improves basic drone performance such as stability, efficiency, and mobility of industrial drones by optimizing the center of gravity of the aircraft. In order implement this 4D GRAVITY®︎ as standard equipment on industrial drones, we have constructed a strong patent portfolio and are promoting a partnership-based platform business for the 4D GRAVITY®︎ license globally.
Aeonext has also founded a subsidiary to implement the SkyHub® smart logistics and pursue drone delivery.
*For more information: https://aeronext.co.jp/company/

*Aeronext, the Aeronext Logo, 4D GRAVITY® and SkyHub® are registered marks of Aeronext Inc.
*All other marks belong to their respective owners.