Maersk North America aims to utilise Verity's warehouse inventory management technology. In particular, a specialised application of inventory drones by Verity is expected to provide a safer option than operating from heights, while the electric-powered energy source ensures sustainability compliance.
Warehouse inventory management is a critical component of supply chain flow, financial risk exposure, and corporate decision-making, said Maersk in a statement.
It is also one of the most difficult, repetitious, and time-consuming operations to accomplish consistently in warehouses, with data quality frequently questioned and staff need to operate at heights, according to Maersk.
"We wanted to deploy a safer, more accurate, data-driven inventory solution that addressed our decarbonisation goals for customers and prevented our workforce from working at heights," said Erez Agmoni, senior vice president of Innovation & Strategic Growth for Maersk North America.
Agmoni went on to add, "Verity’s system has delivered data accuracy, safety and speed which makes our warehouse management system stronger, faster and more effective for customer decision-making."
Verity's warehouse drones fly from pallet to pallet, collecting precise inventory data in three dimensions by scanning barcodes at any height with high-resolution cameras aboard.
The system takes one day of operator training, and the electric-powered drones return to the charging pad as needed, functioning at night or on weekends with no overhead illumination switched on. Drones photograph SKUs on pallets in order to detect inventory issues such as missing or misplaced pallets.
After collecting the data, the system compares the results to data stored in the warehouse management system (WMS) and distills that information into crucial insights supplied directly to users through the user dashboard.
The results are cloud-based, shareable, and give actionable warehouse data for supply chain leaders to improve analytics.
