Case Study: National Grid saves over 200 hours per day with Dronedesk

How Matthew uses Dronedesk to save 200 hours a day for National Grid

National Grid, the UK's primary electricity supplier, faced a critical time management challenge. Their Unmanned Aerial Systems Lead, Matthew Ward, was spending an entire day manually planning each essential drone inspection flight for their vast network of over 22,000 pylons. This laborious process, combined with managing his team and compliance, was unsustainable. To automate and streamline operations, they turned to the vendor Dronedesk for its drone management platform.

Dronedesk implemented its web-based platform, successfully importing National Grid's extensive location data while meeting their strict security requirements. The solution provided robust tools for automated flight planning, team management, and equipment oversight. The results were dramatic: flight planning time was reduced from a full day to just 15 minutes per flight. This saving, scaled across their team of 26 pilots, equates to over 200 hours saved every single day, allowing for massive gains in operational efficiency.

National Grid

Matthew Ward

Unmanned Aerial Systems Lead