An inventory issue doesn’t exist until it’s discovered. The time between occurrence and discovery could be minutes. Or it could be hours. Or days. The longer an inventory issue goes unnoticed, the higher the likelihood that its effects are compounding. In fact, that’s often what leads to the discovery.
At Capacity our inventory accuracy between what’s in the warehouse and what’s in our system is north of 99.5% – which leaves less than 0.5% for us to obsess over.
And obsess we do. We’re constantly exploring new strategies and techniques that can help us inch closer to perfection. Is perfection possible? Realistically, no. Human error happens. So to do tech errors. And sometimes operational complexities are what they are. But the closer we get, the better business is for our clients.
One way we’re doing that is through passive inventory audit. It’s the idea of baking inventory audit into other activities that happen inside the warehouse all day long. Forklift and order picker truck traffic are good examples.
What do Forklifts and Order Picker Trucks Have to do with Passive Inventory Audit?
With Retina Robotics, plenty.
Retina Robotics has developed the WAM, a compact robotic device that mounts to forklifts and other material handling equipment. It uses on-board computer vision and AI to audit inventory placement – all without the need for manual scanning.
The WAM effectively gives warehouse vehicles eyes that can instantly recognize and report when inventory isn’t where it’s supposed to be. This ability to “see into the future” means that small inventory issues have a lower likelihood of ballooning into something bigger.
Piloting with Retina Robotics
We’ve launched a pilot with Retina Robotics at our Indianapolis facility where we do a fair amount of apparel fulfillment. Apparel, which typically has lots of SKUs but with relatively low inventory depth, lends itself well to passive inventory auditing.
We’ll have more data to share soon, but early indicators are positive.
What Passive Inventory Auditing can do for our Brands
Ever-greater inventory accuracy reduces the risk of stockouts, overselling and other events that can negatively impact the customer experience. If we can better our numbers by even one-tenth of a percent in a cost effective way, we owe it to our brands to make it happen.
With Retina Robotics, we’re excited to see where things go.