if a company decides to increase the frequency of its inventory audits, it might accomplish this by increasing the number of ights its existing drones complete, or by adding more drones. ROI IN SIX MONTHS The cost to deploy the Corvus solutions is typically an “order of magnitude cheaper than other options for conducting inventory,” Wu says. Most customers begin generating a return on their investments within six months, he adds. A signi cant differentiator between the Corvus solution and some competitors, Monk says, is its ability to provide a detailed accounting of the products it inventories. Many other inventory options can indicate, for example, that a pallet is in a certain location, and then will scan the barcode and location to check for a match. However, GNC needs to know not just where a pallet is within its distribution center, but the type and number of cases on it. The drones can provide this by taking a picture or video that shows the location of the cases of the products. This allows the GNC inventory team to compare the
would enable them to more accurately and ef ciently track and count products within the distribution centers. GNC rst observed the Corvus drones at an industry conference. Corvus Robotics’ inventory management system deploys autonomous drones that, in contrast to some other solutions, don’t require beacons, re ectors, or other devices to navigate. Instead, the system uses embodied arti cial intelligence (AI) composed of a mix of neural networks, machine learning and computer vision that together enable the drones to learn the layout of a warehouse and the locations of the products within it. This allows the drones to boost the ef ciency and accuracy of the inventory process without requiring changes to the warehouse layout or racks. The inventory process is Corvus’s sole focus. “We don’t do picking, moving, transport, or unloading,” Wu notes. Corvus’s data-driven “robots as a service” model allows companies to quickly respond to changes in demand, reduce labor costs, and/or enhance the customer experience as they need to. For instance,
frequent inspections to ensure compliance with food safety standards. On top of this, the number of inventory movements that occur within any warehouse can lead to misplaced products and inventory errors. However, the employees who ll customer orders need to know the exact location of every product to ensure timely, accurate ful llment. At GNC, employees who ll orders need to account for both expiration dates and lot numbers for each customer. For example, a wholesaler in one country might have a nine-month expiry date requirement, and another wholesaler in a different country, a 12-month expiry date. To address these challenges, Monk and his team began researching solutions that CASEBOOK STUDY Soaring With Drones THE CHALLENGE GNC’s largely manual inventory system consumed both human and equipment resources, so inventory was conducted only a few times each year. This meant errors might go undiscovered for some time. THE SOLUTION GNC implemented an Autonomous Inventory Management System from Corvus Robotics. The Corvus drones use embodied artificial intelligence (AI) to learn the layout of a warehouse and the locations of the products within it. With this information, they’re able to automate cycle counts, freeing labor and equipment and boosting inventory eciency and accuracy. THE RESULTS Among other benefits, the drones have increased inventory accuracy and visibility, and enabled faster error resolution, which helps to prevent disruptions to order fulfillment operations. They’ve also enabled a reduction in the sta required to conduct inventories.
GNC’s labor-intensive inventory counting process once relied on teams navigating 450,000 square feet of warehouse space with materials handling equipment. Now, drones streamline cycle counts, reduce resource constraints, and improve eciency across its DCs.
86 Inbound Logistics • September 2025
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