Robotics
GNC deploys autonomous drones to speed up fulfillment, drive inventory efficiency
GNC deploys Corvus Robotic drones and the return on investment is way beyond more accurate inventory.
July 17, 2025 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
A key aspect to a successful, and rewarding, retail customer experience is ensuring customers find what they need — online and in store — and don't get 'out of stock' notices while browsing an e-commerce storefront or discover an empty spot on an shelf where their wanted product should be easy to grab.
Supply chain and inventory stock management are critical to customer experience, and if a retailer can drive efficiency while also creating less costly strategies it can be a win-win for both the customer and the retailer.
That's exactly what health and wellness provider GNC made happen.
The pain point
GNC was using a lot of labor and equipment to keep up with cycle counts, according to Bill Monk, VP, distribution at GNC.
"In 24/7 facilities like ours, especially in our Indianapolis distribution center, tying up associates and material handling equipment just to audit inventory wasn't sustainable long term," he said in an email interview.
So GNC went looking for technology to change that distribution scenario and discovered Corvus Robotics at an industry trade show.
"We were immediately drawn to how straightforward their solution was. While other vendors focused on flashy demos, Corvus stood out because their drones actually counted inventory. That's what we needed— not just a show/verify, but real data," said Monk.
Corvus Robotics is an autonomous inventory management system built on an AI world model.
GNC deployed the Corvus One Autonomous Inventory Management System to more accurately and efficiently track and store material at GNC distribution centers in Indiana and Arizona.
The system deploys fully autonomous, infrastructure-free drones that fly without human operators. The data-driven, "robots as a service" model allows companies to quickly respond to changes in demand, reduce labor costs and enhance the customer experience.
The drones operate during business hours to keep up with GNC's high order volume, improving inventory accuracy, reducing shrinkage and minimizing human errors.
Drones in the warehouse
Once GNC signed on with Corvus Robotics implementation came quick.
"They had us up and running in just a few weeks," said Monk, adding the GNC IT team has high standards and Corvus met all the security and integration requirements quickly.
"That made the rollout seamless," he said.
The warehouse inventory drones perform seven to eight flights per day, each lasting approximately 30 minutes, providing real-time inventory data.
The Corvus drones solve more than a few pain points in inventory management including decreasing the possibility of misplaced products as well as avoiding operational disruptions.
GNC no longer must pull labor from other tasks to perform audits and the inventory drones can count pallets and cases, batch scan multiple SKUs in the same location and provide a volumetric analysis of the slot's storage capacity.
One surprise after deployment was the discovery of a needed inventory process improvement as the drone data revealed gaps in GNC's item-level data. The gap involved dimensional errors that threw off counts.
"If we typed in a wrong number in our warehouse management system, the drone is using that number to validate and count what's there at that location. So it'd flag a discrepancy and at first, it'd seem like the drone miscalculated, but actually, we gave it the wrong data," Monk said. "That's a process improvement benefit we weren't expecting but have since realized. My advice? Focus on tech that does the work, not just looks good doing it."
Assessing ROI
The return on investment is big for GNC as it went from counting inventory two to four times a year to doing it monthly.
"That's over 40,000 locations a month in our distribution centers with fewer people, and no need to use our material handling equipment. Accuracy is way up, and we've been able to repurpose labor into roles that actually add value instead of just maintaining the status quo," said Monk.
Accurate inventory in distribution center isn't just a 'nice to have,' according to Jackie Wu, CEO of Corvus Robotics. It's the "backbone" of efficient and cost-effective fulfillment centers.
"I often hear concerns that drone systems are too complex, too unreliable or not adaptable to real-world warehouse environments, but that's no longer the case," said Wu.
Autonomous drones can safely navigate dynamic environments, deliver real time data for faster decision making and create leaner operations.
"It's not just about replacing manual counts; it's about turning inventory into a strategic advantage," said Wu.
Other benefits are improved stock reliability, labor reallocation (at GNC inventory control staff was reduced from 20 to 13 with redeployed workers put on other projects) and the ability to quickly locate misplaced inventory and reconcile discrepancies.
More strategic advantages are ahead for GNC.
"We're still uncovering new ways to get value from it," said Monk. "We are not flying at full frequency yet, and there's plenty of room to expand usage within our existing footprint. As we continue to prove out the benefits, we may add more drones to increase our cycle counting frequency."
What to know ahead of drone deployment
All that is needed to deploy Corvus drones is power, an ethernet drop and access to inventory data or a warehouse management solution.
"We do not need Wi-Fi, GPS or localization fiducial markers like stickers or beacons," said Wu. "We can read virtually any barcode symbology in any orientation placed anywhere on the front of cartons or pallets that a person could read. Our team handles the setup and calibration so our customers' operations can keep moving while we get the system flying."
Wu said inventory drones can cycle count up to 20 times faster than a manual process and reduce dependence on labor and material handling equipment.
"In GNC's case, the company increased its facility-wide inventory audits from two to four times per year to now 12 times a year. They have reduced their cycle counting team from 20 employees to 13 while redeploying that labor into more value-added roles, and their internal teams, such as picking and replenishment, no longer must share material handling equipment with the cycle counting team."
About Judy Mottl
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