Robin Haycock’s Post

It has been a long time since I spoke at a conference. I have been leading Fernhay Solutions in a project with our long term partners UPS to solve end to end parcel movements using a collaboration of vans and cycles at scale and profitably. This has now proved, without doubt, a significant cost reduction beyond what we were hoping for, so I get to finally see the dream we set out with many years ago - the movement of a 2m3 box across multiple assets, facilities and vehicles from an out of town depot to the door of the customer. I look forward to the debate, and thank Zag Daily and WMG, University of Warwick for the invite.

https://lnkd.in/exYmrETM Finaly we are going to get joined up thinking based on active travel and what it does for the wider society and budgets

Moving boxes about (cubes on the back of Fernhay eQuads) has been my life for a long time, and this project is the culmination of all that work. We have finaly proved that Fernhays system (I call it the P400 for an internal amusement) in collaboration with a reduced number of (electric) vans delivers significant cost reductions and is 'green on top and black on the bottom line!' well done UPS and www.fernhay.com

This is pre-production hardware but it is in a public space so visible to all to discuss. Production takes everything we have learnt from this project and reduces the cost per package signficantly further. We are at the point where the environmental benefits that were my motivation when i started www.Fernhay.com have very little to do with the decisions that are now being made. This is all about BIG overal cost savings from out of town depot to the door of the customer. Yes it is a system approach where the system is a 400 stop unit combining 3 bikes and 1 package car. To my friends and coleagues I call it a P400 system... 3 to 1 is a great ratio of assets for so many reasons. I look forward to talking more about the system later in the year when the final hardware and optimised opperations are in place and delivering measurable double digit % benefits in bottom line - and anyone that works in global scale logistics will know how crazy that is as a statement!

Cycle logistics has been around since Postman Pat delivered on 2 wheeled (British made) bicycles 100years ago! now letters are near extinction as are 2 wheeled cycles being effective at delivering parcels. Innovation is all around addressing new boundary conditions with (mostly) old ideas. At www.Fernhay.com we have now developed an industrial system that can reduce cost of deliveries and replace (the majority of) vans. To make a positive impact to the things that matter (that is obviously a relative statement that depends on what matters to you...) we all must move towards solutions that scale (where scale in this regard is 4 diesel vans becoming 3 Fernhay eQuads and one Electric van :o) I look forward to the WMG, University of Warwick event and thanks Zag Daily

https://lnkd.in/eBnZk4NB Mike Scialom and his dog wanted to know WHY? So we had a great chat over a triple expresso (an error on my behalf that kept me buzzing all afternoon) at a fine pub in Cambridge. Why is it all about the box and not the Fernhay eQuad. Its quite straight forward to comprehend, but the reality is very difficult to achieve safely, at scale, and at profit for our customers. By pre-loading a 2m3 box that weighs 300kg at an out of town depot and then moving that box by one person, over depots and vehicles all at different heights and gaps and angles and tyre pressures... we can reduce the cost of parcel deliveries from 30 miles out of a city to the door of the customer (and not just the last mile that everyone focuses on). That is the fundamental reason why this Engineer considers the bike as a by-product of the Fernhay System we have developed and not the other way around - it changes the way you think about the problem!

https://lnkd.in/dhMHy6Ue I met Mike Scialom and his lovely old dog for a cup of coffee yesterday at The Plough in Cambridge. We debated the whole www.Fernhay.com system and its ambitions to provide signficant emissions reductions; promote cycling and walking in one of the UKs most beautiful cycling cities, yet be more profitable than a diesel van from UPS Bury St Edmunds out of town depot to the door of the customer in Cambridge city centre. Next weeks episode should provide a bit more colour to what has been my Fernhay lifes work! How to move a 2m3 Cube containing 200kg of parcels across multiple assets and different modes of transport safely and efficiently. Its not about the bike (as somone once said...?) its about the story of a container and where it is efficient to consolidate its load (which the same person did not say).

www.Fernhay.com is publically associated with the 4 wheeled eQuad but that is not why I founded the company. I co-founded it (with Frances Fernandes) in the belief that solving a very specific set of boundary conditions would deliver not only big environmental gains, but at a profit when compared to the van measured from an out of town depot (not a last mile van vs bike comparison) So how can you safely move (with one person) a 2m3 box carrying 200kg of weight, between multiple facilities and different forms of transport all operating at different heights, different tolerance stack ups, allowing for variance in mundane things like tyre pressures whilst allowing for human error? I consider that problem is easy to talk about, it might even be easy to demonstrate in a controlled trial if you miss out some of the dodgy bits of the demonstration ... but almost impossible to achieve in reality for the global safety conscious companies we work for and the sign off criterior I have had to adhere to. Solving that simple set of boundary conditions is all you need :o) to allow the system to deliver a lower cost of delivering parcels when compared to the van. Results are positive and the hardware in the system (Pre-load deck, trailer, ECO Hub, cubes and more) are going through one final iteration before Peak season 2024 to reduce costs, improve durability, speed up operation, increase safety and more for the complete set of Fernhay Solution assets to be production available to anyone. Thank you so much to my colleagues UPS for being such a great partner all these years and sticking with that simple dream. It was never about the eQuad (or eWalker, or powered eTrailer) that are all relatively easy to understand and in production. Now I can finally start to explain over the coming months why we ended up with small scooter wheels, why we went for a heavier ladder frame when a spine frame seems so logical, why the cab is not part of the cube and why the cube is so structural along with every other quirky feature that does not stack up as logical or cost focused until you start to understand the system problem we were solving. This Engineer is finally seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel but in the meantime… here is an article about an eQuad being used in Cambridge :o) https://lnkd.in/dmzKyiaj

https://lnkd.in/eX4kSUkv Work hard and have a dream (Goal in Arnie terms) and you can be in the 25% of people that love their work, love their life and feel fulfilled. Maybe Arnie isn't right for you, but his motivation and goals are clear and drive his success in everything he sets his heart on.

For years I have tried to explain to non engineering colleagues that a tyre is part of the suspension system of vehicles... and now I have the video that explains it! Look at all those rubber springs replacing a very good air suspension :o) www.fernhay.com eQuad has deep section air suspension at the rear and mechanical springs with air suspension at the front, and very good it is at a very low cost and extremely robust!