Inventory Count Drones for Warehouses
Drones can help warehouses update and coordinate their inventory management databases in several ways.
Cycle counting, stock counting, and inventory management.
Benefits
Accurate inventory counting at any desired counting cycle
The true potential of using drones in warehouses is the value they provide by acting as a platform that adds mobility to a host of technologies – like RFID, Barcode Readers, AI, and machine learning.
The business advantages from drones are immediate and significant given low infrastructure investments and capital expenditure
Greater Work at Height Safety
Improved workplace safety. Lower risk of injury when counting hard-to-reach inventory
Improve Productivity
Reduces material and human resources required to carry out inventories
Improved Stock Reliability
Improved stock reliability and the opportunity to check inventory on a more regular and thorough basis
Integrated with WMS
Information collected by drones can be used in conjunction with most warehouse management systems
Why does drone technology make sense for warehouse operations?
Accurate inventories are a basic prerequisite for a warehouse. The volume and velocity of inventory at a warehouse can cause significant problems for warehouse management, without robust measures in place, inventory control and management can quickly spiral into a chaotic and an expensive operation.
How do drones work in a warehouse environment?
Drones can navigate through even the most complex of warehouse layouts to each individual rack location, without any reliance on GPS.
Upon the drones’ arrival at each level/bin, the front-facing barcodes are scanned and data is compared against Warehouse management system records. In case only a count is required, a number of count of items is provided.
Feasibility Analysis
The analysis phase is designed to establish and plan how the project will be deployed in the most effective way. In this stage, we understand your business process, assess potential challenges, and determine the anticipated ROI.
Proof of Concept
Proof of Concept
On-site implementation of a proof of concept of what will be the final solution.
The purpose of this stage is to confirm the safe navigation of the drone, barcode detection, counting of items without barcode, also highlighting key challenges. We fine-tune the process until our customers are satisfied
Deployment
Upon successful completion of the proof of concept, full-scale production roll-out will follow soon after. Scanned data is compared with WMS records and staff are notified of any anomalies.
Using drones to enhance audits
Robotic techniques for stocktaking are steadily replacing manual stocktakes
Stocktaking is a task that must be carried out regularly to ensure the efficiency of the supply chain and to meet regulatory requirements. Manual Stocktaking may involve stopping the warehouse operations altogether and are costly in time and labor.
Some of the advantages of utilizing drone technology in the warehouse
- Lesser manpower is required to perform the inventory count hence, resources can be channeled to other activities
- Improved accuracy of count results, easy comparison of count results with the existing inventory data on the WMS.
- Information on stocks is updated almost near real-time
