Case Study: Saving Cycle Counters and Equipment with Drones

Using our solution, Barrett Distribution, a leading 3PL, has been been able to reallocate 6 cycle counters and save $250k in material handling equipment.

Labor and Equipment Savings through Drone-Powered Inventory Monitoring

Reduced Equipment Dependency: Traditional inventory counting methods often require expensive material handling equipment (MHE), such as man uplifts or order pickers, to access elevated areas within the warehouse. Using this equipment is costly. Equipment can cost $50,000 or more. With our solution, Barrett was able to eliminate the need to have this costly equipment dedicated to cycle counting. Drones now effortlessly navigate high up in the warehouse aisles, conducting counts at various levels without requiring expensive machinery. Barrett reports that the reallocation of MHE in one warehouse has saved them $250,000.

Optimized Labor Allocation: Our drone-powered inventory monitoring solution has resulted in substantial labor savings for Barrett. Previously, Barrett Distribution relied on a team of six dedicated cycle counters climbing on equipment to count products in very narrow aisles (VNA). Our solution counts pallet locations in the warehouse efficiently, up to 900 pallets per hour. Barrett now only needs one cycle counter to change the batteries of the drone and fix any inventory errors the drone finds. This allows the rest of the inventory team to focus on higher-value tasks.

Results

• The inventory team went from having 6 dedicated cycle counters to having 1 person manage the drone
• The inventory team is now focused on value-added activities, not counting
• Elimination of $250,000 in Material Handling Equipment

View more case studies on our YouTube channel.

‍