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Automation in warehousing is at an all-time high. The industry now has access to a wide range of technology engineered to improve everything from moving pallets to sorting polybags. The adoption of WMS has helped improve the planning and reporting of warehouse activities and inventory status. But a WMS is only as good as the data it receives from cycle count activities. Warehouses considering automation to support cycle count missions have several tools to choose from. Warehouse drones from companies like Gather AI have sparked interest from many companies and analysts. The idea of using drones to scan and keep track of stored inventory sounds cutting edge and enticing. How does this technology stand up against other leading tools like the Vimaan StorTRACK? Consider these factors in comparing these technologies:
THE TRUTH IS HERE – Learn the difference between Gather AI warehouse drones and Vimaan StorTRACK
Why it’s important – The larger the cycle counting system’s field of view (FOV), the faster it can capture inventory. This directly improves warehouse efficiency and reduces reliance on labor.
Gather AI Drones – Due to space limitations on the drone, it is equipped with a single camera, providing a 1-foot field of view (FOV). While flying farther away from the shelf can increase the FOV, it risks reducing image resolution and makes it difficult to capture important label details like barcodes and text.
Vimaan StorTRACK – this mobile system includes 4 high resolution cameras, allowing it to quickly scan all visible items on a pallet including complete label capture. The 4-camera array provides warehouses with a 4’ FOV allowing users to scan 50 items as fast as they scan 1. Additionally embedded LED lighting ensures consistent illumination with each scan.
Winner: Vimaan StorTRACK
Why it’s important: Warehouse space can be expensive with limited ability to increase a facility’s footprint forcing operations to increase their storage capacity by storing goods as high as possible.
Gather AI Drones – The high-powered lift generated by fast moving rotors allow warehouse operators to pilot drones to the top of warehouse racks to successfully scan put-away pallets.
Vimaan StorTRACK – The very same forklifts used to place inventory in high warehouse shelves can also be used to lift StorTRACK for high bay warehouse scanning. If the MHE can reach the high shelf, so can StorTRACK. Very little training is required to operate StorTRACK.
Winner: PUSH. Both cycle counting solutions can reach, and scan inventory stored in the highest warehouse shelves.
Something to note, most drone and AMR robot cycle counting solution providers will not integrate into existing warehouse management systems and instead require warehouses to use standalone applications and tools to report on their cycle counting results. Warehouse drones and AMRs used for high bay scanning are more bleeding edge than leading edge, resulting in many warehouses regretting their choice for cycle count automation.
Why it’s important: The duration of daily cycle count missions vary from warehouse to warehouse. Some require only a few hours of scanning a day, while others require full shifts including several employees to constantly count and report on stored goods. Automated cycle count solutions should not limit a warehouse from conducting these important tasks.
Gather AI Drones: The length of a drone battery charge depends on several factors including the drone’s size, weight and battery capacity. The battery charge life of these cycle counting drones lasts up to 20 minutes, including take off and landing. After 20 minutes, a new freshly charged battery needs to be manually swapped in by a warehouse associate. Or in some cases drone solution providers will attempt to convince warehouses to buy more than one scanning device.
Vimaan StorTRACK: Initially founded as a warehouse drone solution provider, Vimaan quickly discovered that leading warehouses were dissatisfied with the short battery life of these flying scanners. After conducting more warehouse drone missions than any other North American provider from 2018 to 2022, Vimaan replaced their drones with StorTRACK, which offers an 8-hour battery life. Customers wanted a solution that could handle cycle counting for an entire shift, and Vimaan delivered.
Winner: Vimaan StorTRACK. Short battery lives pose a significant challenge for warehouses seeking fast, uninterrupted cycle counting. Gather AI drones offer a 20-minute battery life, while other providers, such as Verity, last only 10 minutes.
Why it’s important: Warehouses are highly dynamic environments with many unpredictable factors that can impact any form of automation.
Gather AI Drones: A warehouse drone operates best in a pristine and obstacle free environment. Before launching a drone in each aisle, warehouse associates need to ensure that it is free from any equipment, activity or employees that may obstruct the path of the drone.
Another factor many warehouses overlook is the potential for debris to disrupt drone flights. Loose materials, such as shrink wrap, can easily get caught in drone rotors, causing the drone to become immobilized and requiring manual intervention. This issue occurs more frequently than you might think— watch this video to see how it happens.
Finally, very narrow aisles (VNAs) have become a popular choice for warehouses looking to optimize their footprint. However, this can pose challenges for some drones since narrow aisles make maneuvering. While Gather AI drones are reported to work in aisles as narrow as 5 feet, 5 inches, they cannot operate effectively in aisles narrower than that.
Vimaan StorTRACK: StorTRACK was built in the design of a pallet, if a pallet or MHE can fit down an aisle than so can StorTRACK. Additionally, StorTRACK is not affected by obstacles or loose debris. If your MHE operates in a specific environment, then so can StorTRACK.
Winner: Vimaan StorTRACK
Why It’s Important: At a bare minimum any cycle count automation needs to scan and account for stored pallets.
Gather AI Drones – Given their limited battery life and small field of views, pallet scanning is the ideal application for these drones. Scanning a single LPN on a label is straightforward for Gather AI drones, and even their trade show demonstrations focus solely on pallets with single labels to showcase this scanning capability.
Vimaan StorTRACK: Built with 4 cameras, embedded lighting and the width of a pallet, StorTRACK can scan everything in its field of view including single LPNs for multiple standalone labels. The versatility of StorTRACK can support pallets in one bin and a stack of standalone cases in the next.
Winner: Push – both technologies are capable of scanning and capturing stored pallet data. Keep in mind Gather AI scanning requires regular stoppages due to short battery lives.
Why it’s important: The ideal cycle count automation will handle a wider array of item scanning. Manual cycle counting individual cases is time consuming and expensive for warehouses, a solution that scans cases as well as pallets is essential to dynamic warehouse environments.
Gather AI Drones: While pallet scanning is an acceptable use case for drones, case scanning is more problematic. The tiny drone camera requires slow and careful image capture, or the resolutions of the images will impact the quality of reporting. If a drone was to scan an aisle full of cases, then this could take hours, requiring several battery swaps. These drones are ideal for scanning pallets and especially for partial aisles.
Vimaan StorTRACK – Because of the embedded lighting and array of cameras, StorTRACK can scan fifty items as fast as it can scan one. It does not matter how many labels the system needs to capture, StorTRACK captures inventory as fast as the MHE can lift and lower the system. Along with scanning cases facing the aisle, StorTRACK can now cycle count hidden cases on same SKU pallets. StorTRACK depth sensors detect cases that have picked from and then provide an accurate count of remaining cases.
Winner: StorTRACK.
Why it’s important: The more technology required for cycle count automation the more complex and expensive it becomes to operate and maintain impacting your bottom line.
Gather AI Drone: According to the Gather AI website, the drone’s battery lasts for 20 minutes before requiring a recharge. Continuous scanning with drones necessitates multiple units, which increases both the cost and complexity of managing concurrent or even consecutive drone flights. Precisely piloting even a single drone is challenging, let alone operating multiple at the same time.
Vimaan StorTRACK: The versatility and long-lasting performance of StorTRACK means that 99% of warehouses just need ONE. Vimaan never recommends more than one unit per facility. StorTRACK extended battery life provides the most non-stop cycle count automation in the industry. The only rare occurrence when a warehouse may use more than one unit is during end of the year audits, and even then, the additional StorTRACK is returned after completion. StorTRACK can even be moved from one customer facility to another.
The Winner: Vimaan StorTRACK
Gather AI Drones – The system is considered expensive due to the need for multiple drones to maintain continuous scanning, as each drone has a limited battery life of 20 minutes. Managing several drones simultaneously adds complexity and requires additional resources, both in terms of equipment and skilled personnel. As a result, the high upfront cost and the ongoing operational demands contribute to a slower return on investment for warehouses.
Vimaan StorTRACK – Unlike drone operations, StorTRACK requires no additional staffing or specialized training. If your current operators are already familiar with using MHE forks, they can easily operate StorTRACK. By deploying this cycle counting system, warehouses significantly reduce their reliance on unskilled, costly labor. With its long battery life and fast scanning capabilities, many customers have reduced labor dependence by over 75%, with some experiencing a return on investment in less than six months.
Having deployed StorTRACK across dozens of warehouses across the United States, the Vimaan automation analysts help customers research and calculated warehouse specific ROI as part of the diligence process. This experienced support serves as a valuable resource for establishing internal business cases. Vimaan also offers proof of concepts (POCs) to warehouses at their own facilities to demonstrate how StorTRACK can improve cycle count efficiencies.
Winner: Vimaan StorTRACK
Drones are often seen as a “sexy” and enticing solution for cycle count automation, capturing the attention of customers and executives with their cutting-edge technology and futuristic appeal. However, the reality is that drones come with serious shortcomings that limit their effectiveness, including:
Additionally, the complexity of managing multiple drones adds cost and operational challenges. In contrast, Vimaan’s StorTRACK offers a far superior solution. With its 8-hour battery life, wide field of view, and ability to operate seamlessly in various warehouse environments, StorTRACK provides faster, more efficient cycle counting with minimal reliance on labor, making it the clear choice for warehouses seeking reliability and scalability in automation.
