Exploring commercial UAV market evolution from customer requirements elicitation to collaborative supply network management

This work underlines a methodology for identifying and developing innovative solutions for the commercial exploitation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) as well as for identifying the competences required for fulfilling the customers' requirements and thus the profile of the industrial and public actors to be involved in a drone competence center. First of all, it is necessary to better understanding the evolution of UAV commercial applications in order to understand which opportunities can be grasped. In parallel it is also fundamental identifying which critical success factors are required, both at the technological and organizational level, to effectively compete in this complex and growing market. A literature review allowed to identify the main aspects to be investigated, then a survey has been conducted involving companies already operating in the UAV sector in order to elicit the market opportunities, in terms of type of missions, as well as the key elements of the product and service offer. The competences required for offering innovative solutions in the UAV market have also been mapped. Moreover, the level of collaboration among the various players involved in the UAV markets has been explored. This survey provides seed information for the development of the whole methodology and its implementation for specific types of UAV missions, in particular in this work will be explored its role in the definition of a QFD analysis linking customer generic requirements with technical features of UAV products and services required for satisfying them.