Dive Brief:
- UPS Supply Chain Solutions has teamed up with robotics company Verity to track inventory via autonomous drones, according to a November announcement.
- The partnership launched at the UPS Velocity facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, in July as "the first of many potential sites," per Verity's website. The distribution location has a 266,000-square-foot storage area and manages over 930,000 inventory movements annually.
- The number of hours spent on inventory processes is already down by half at the UPS site, according to Verity, while “high-reach tasks" have been eliminated for employees.
Dive Insight:
Verity's drones are helping UPS solve the frequent pain point of inventory accuracy, Mary Ann Crawford, an industrial engineering manager at UPS Supply Chain Solutions, said in a video about the collaboration. Inaccurate counts and misplaced items can cascade into order fulfillment disruptions if not handled properly.
"When your inventory is off, you're going to feel it in every different area of the operation," Crawford said. "You'll feel it when you go to put a case away and you can't fit it in the location because the location is full, or you go to pick or replenish a case and the case that you wanted is not there."
To address that challenge, Verity said its drones provide inventory checks daily and full-facility audits twice per month. This helps UPS Supply Chain Solutions identify stock discrepancies while maintaining accurate data on inventory levels.
Verity's drones are particularly useful for the UPS Velocity facility, according to Verity. The location features a "very narrow aisle configuration" that optimizes space but presents hurdles for larger equipment like forklifts.
UPS isn't the only company tapping into Verity's services. Last year, Maersk announced it was deploying Verity drones at its warehouses for stronger inventory tracking. Sportswear brand On recently revealed its own collaboration with Verity to increase visibility in its fulfillment operations.
