Every warehouse manager dreads the need for ongoing inventory management.  Even with the help of barcodes or RFID identifiers, it takes workers hours to roam through the warehouse to take stock.  Yearly inventories are one thing but most warehouses feel the need for periodic or cyclic inventories to gauge shifting  purchasing trends, especially during peak seasons.  It’s time consuming and expensive and must be scheduled during evenings or weekends to avoid disrupting warehouse workflow.

Some companies are experimenting with the use of drones instead.  It’s a logical idea. Properly equipped and deployed, drones might substitute for human workers and take company stock more quickly. They won’t have to be paid overtime, and won’t get hurt performing the task.  Best of all, a drone is likely more versatile.  It can reach top shelf stock that a human worker – or wheeled robot, another potential hi-tech substitute – might have difficulty reaching.  That’s the theory. But how well do drones actually perform inventory management?

It depends.  One warehouse company, Boston-based Corvus, was worried that most of the drones currently available on the market might not be tailored to its operational requirements, including low-light visibility and intermittent Wi-Fi.  So, with the help of venture capital, the company wisely decided to custom build its own UAVs. The drones the firm built use sensors to avoid indoor obstacles, not just equipment but also warehouse workers who are still on the job. The systems also utilize enhanced infrared cameras that could take inventory at night, if necessary, and an on-board “autonomy stack,” which allows its drones to keep flying even when the company’s Wi-Fi isn’t working.

Financing their own drone development might be an issue for smaller companies.  Corvus needed $5 million in seed money to design and develop its drones — a huge expense. Another issue is whether drones can fully replace human stock-takers.  Some industry experts say no.  Not all items come with proper identifiers or they may get stored in a manner that makes accurate drone-based inspection difficult.  Some items may still be too small.  In the end, some degree of human management may still be needed.

The same issue affects whether warehouse drones might be fully autonomous or require remote piloting.  Corvus hopes to program its drones with precise flight paths and equip them with sufficiently advanced navigational and object avoidance technology to allow for fully unmanned vehicles.  But most companies might find the added cost and stock-taking reliability issues prohibitive.

Even so, a growing number of drone manufacturers are jumping into the warehouse market, which encompasses not just stock inventory but logistics management. They include names like Aeriu, Hummingbird and Flytbase.  The price of their drones vary depending on the facility size and the technology needed, but most cost in the neighborhood of $1,000.

Industry sources expect the market for warehouse drones – dubbed “ware drones” – to grow exponentially in the coming years, especially as more companies face supply chain issues that disrupt their inventory and require precision low-cost management not just of their stocks but of their overall logistics.  According to WinterGreen Research the Logistics Drone Market, estimated at just USD $351 million in 2021, and is projected to grow nearly ten-fold to more than $3.3 billion over the next six years alone – a phenomenal growth trajectory.  Drones, it seems, have found a brand new niche.