Autonomous warehouse drones streamline inventory control
Autonomous indoor AI drones join the workforce, moving about factories and warehouses to track inventory, identify missing products and predict equipment maintenance.
Warehouses and factories are the enterprise hub of inventory control, but the perennial push for speed and automation is creating opportunities for AI drones to track products and handle manual tasks. AI drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, can operate fully autonomously 24/7, even when the premises are closed and the lights are out.
"What we're looking into for our automation within our distribution centers is a dark warehouse for cycle counting," said Ryan Whitney, director of enterprise data at WinSupply, a 70-year-old construction distribution company. "When the associates are leaving for the night, say around 2 a.m. and then they're kicking back up at 6 a.m., what we'd love to have in that window of time is drones counting the actual product on the shelves and ensuring that the product is there. The best part is we can have the lights off because there's nobody else in the warehouse. The drones can just do their thing and maneuver around."
Manual inventory counting at WinSupply involves workers scanning products as they walk around the warehouse. During this process, there's always the possibility that a product can be missed, requiring a recount to ensure accurate reporting. "We want to decrease manual touch as much as possible," Whitney said.
Logistics and supply chain company Geodis deployed Gather AI drones to reduce time and labor costs and improve inventory tracking accuracy. The inventory scanning process, including barcodes, lot codes, expiration dates and box counts, is completed 15 times faster by the drones compared to manual scanning methods, according to a Geodis case study by Gather AI. In addition, the amount of pallet locations scanned increased 50% to 1,200 per day by one drone operator versus just 800 by four manual counters.
At footcare and footwear product company Scholl, annual total inventory checks are required to meet financial compliance. The process required a full warehouse shutdown, pausing all shipments and delaying order fulfillments for several days to manually count 12,000 pallet locations. After deploying a Verity autonomous drone system, inventory counting audits were shifted to off-hours to avoid shutdowns and direct inventory costs were reduced by 50%, based on a case study by Scholl, Verity and transport company DSV. The drones operate in high areas, eliminating the need for lifts or other rented equipment during the audit.
AI drone capabilities are reshaping inventory management and predictive maintenance.
From remote control to autonomous inventory counting
Manual inventory counting at Dermalogica's primary distribution center required a dedicated cycle counter who could take up to two months to complete one pass through the facility. The skin-care product maker implemented the Corvus One inventory drone system, which performed fully autonomous aerial inventory scans outside of active hours, "with no GPS, no localization beacons or stickers on the racks," said Corvus Robotics enterprise sales director Tony Esquith.
The drone "uses embodied AI, computer vision and a proprietary large-world model to navigate GPS-denied warehouse environments autonomously, which was simply not possible with earlier generations of the technology," Esquith explained. The AI drone system now images the warehouse 52 times a year -- a 600% increase in imaging frequency, he added.
We now have a concise list of items to verify rather than randomly going out and starting to count.
Jason BrownDirector of U.S. logistics, Dermalogica
"The concept of the technology is simple; you're looking at every single location as often as possible to verify that it's correct," said Jason Brown, director of U.S. logistics at Dermalogica. "In the past, we would notice something was missing when we went to pick it, and it wasn't in the location. That would trigger a full search to find the product. Now that we're doing that work proactively, we don't have those emergency situations."
The drone system generates daily inventory reports that identify pallet locations and any missing or misplaced products. "We now have a concise list of items to verify rather than randomly going out and starting to count," Brown noted. "Our cycle counting process used to take one person 40 hours a week. Now … we've been able to repurpose that person for about 75% of their time. We now spend two to three hours a day cycle counting and reconciling errors, and the rest of the time can be devoted to other productive tasks."
AI drones perform predictive maintenance
"In terms of the commercial space, [businesses] are looking at using AI to do predictive maintenance and analysis," said Sandi Banerjee, president and COO of drone developer Arcanus. "There's a potential for a tidal wave of information that can be overwhelming, and that's the link between the logarithmic leaps in sensor technology, as well as the proliferation of cost-effective drones, to where AI and automation come in."
Jaguar Land Rover Automotive is using Flyability's Elios 3 indoor drones at its Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Center to inspect factory equipment and determine maintenance issues. The drones are equipped with lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors to detect distances and thermal cameras to identify overheating components or failures in insulation.
The company reported inspection time during the pilot program was cut from four hours to just 10 minutes. The drone’s ability to reach high and confined spaces, while the maintenance teams remain safely on the floor, eliminated the need for elevated platforms and reduced risk.
Beyond inventory tracking and predictive maintenance, AI drone capabilities could also play a role in factory and warehouse construction and renovations, especially because they can carry heavier loads. It would be possible to construct taller factories and warehouses where "the drone goes all the way up and grabs whatever it needs off the top shelf and brings it down," said Beth Flippo, CEO and founder of Dexa, formerly Drone Express. "You're going to see things change tremendously so that corporations can incorporate these drones inside and outside their facilities."
Chuck Martin, a New York Times bestselling author, futurist, speaker and columnist, has been a thought leader in emerging digital technologies for more than three decades.
