CUSTOMER STORY
NFI
NFI Builds Ground Truth at Scale Across 51,000 Warehouse Locations with the Gather AI Platform
75%
Reduction in Cycle Count Time
5x
Productivity iIncrease
0
Infrastructure Changes Required
Challenge
NFI, one of North America's largest 3PL providers, operates facilities where stock turns over three to four times in six months and seasonal headcount swings from five associates to over 200. Manual cycle counting with cherry pickers produced slow, incomplete records that couldn't keep pace with that volume. WMS data fell out of sync with physical reality, misplaced pallets went undetected for weeks, and every scanning shift introduced unnecessary risk to workers.
Solution
NFI deployed Gather AI Vision as the sensing layer of the Gather AI platform, running autonomous drone scanning missions alongside live picking operations without disrupting daily workflows. Drone missions pause when pickers need access to a section and resume without losing data or progress. Gather AI Vision feeds scan data directly into NFI's WMS in real time, transforming ground truth from a periodic snapshot into a continuously updated operational asset.
Results
After deployment, NFI achieved three times more location coverage per cycle count in 75% less time, scanning 51,000 warehouse locations across the facility. Teams recovered more than 15 pallets that had gone unrecorded in the WMS for weeks, restoring inventory value that manual counting had missed entirely. Reduced reliance on cherry pickers lowered equipment and labor costs, while Gather AI Vision's imaging surfaced overhanging pallets and debris before they became safety incidents.
"We found more than 15 pallets that had been missing for weeks. They were in the racks but weren't recorded in the system. The drone's data helped us recover them instantly."
— Ruth Alonso, Operations Manager, NFI
"The Gather AI solution seamlessly integrated into our warehouse operations, delivering swift results. Our employees engaged well with the system, leading to a notable 5x productivity increase within five months using a single drone."
— Cody Merritt, Director of Solution Design and Innovation, NFI
