# How NFI Cut Manual Hours at Scale with Gather AI’s Autonomous Drones

## Key Results

- **75% Reduction in Inventory Counting Time**
- **51,000 Locations Scanned**

## The Challenge: Managing High-Velocity Warehouse Operations

At NFI, one of North America’s leading third-party logistics (3PL) providers, managing a high-volume, fast-moving warehouse presents constant challenges. With inventory turning over three to four times in a six-month period, NFI needed a solution that could:

- Keep up with rapid inventory movement without disrupting operations
- Reduce the massive labor hours spent on manual cycle counting
- Find misplaced pallets faster to minimize shipping delays
- Improve safety by reducing reliance on cherry pickers and forklifts

Before Gather AI, cycle counting required employees to use cherry pickers, scanning locations manually—a time-consuming and costly process that only covered small sections of the warehouse per shift.

> _"Before, we had one person using a cherry picker, counting aisle by aisle. They could only complete one side of the warehouse per day."_— Ruth Alonso, NFI

With seasonal surges—where warehouse operations ramp from five associates to over 200 in just months—NFI needed a faster, smarter, and more scalable solution.

## The Solution: AI-Powered Drone Inventory Scanning

NFI implemented Gather AI’s autonomous drone inventory management system, which:

- Scans inventory three times faster than traditional cycle counting
- Provides real-time WMS updates for 99.9% accuracy
- Finds lost pallets instantly, reducing delays and misplaced inventory
- Reduces reliance on forklifts and cherry pickers for cycle counts

> _"One of our biggest concerns was how the drones would fly around such a busy warehouse with pickers and constant movement. But Gather AI worked closely with us to develop a process that made it seamless."_— Onario, NFI

Unlike manual processes, Gather AI’s system allows employees to pause a drone mission if a picker needs to access a section, then resume scanning without delays. This seamless integration into daily warehouse operations makes AI-powered inventory counting a game-changer for high-turnover warehouses.

## The Results: 75% Time Savings & More Accurate Inventory Management

Since deploying Gather AI, NFI has experienced dramatic efficiency improvements:

- **75% Reduction in Inventory Counting Time:** NFI reduced cycle counting from 4,400 hours per year to just 800 hours.
- **Three Times More Locations Scanned:** NFI scanned 51,000 locations—three times more than before.
- **Lost Pallets Found in Minutes Instead of Days:** Previously, misplaced pallets meant hours of searching. Now, the Gather AI dashboard pinpoints their last scanned location instantly.
- **Eliminated Cherry Pickers & Reduced Equipment Costs**: By cutting reliance on cherry pickers, NFI saved on rental, maintenance, and training costs.
- **Improved Safety & Compliance:** Drones capture images of overhanging pallets and debris, helping warehouse managers prevent safety hazards before they cause issues.

> _"We found more than 15 pallets that had been missing for weeks. They were in the racks but weren’t recorded in the system. The drone’s data helped us recover them instantly."_— Ruth Alonso, NFI

## Why NFI Chose Gather AI Over Other Solutions

- **Scalability for Seasonal Warehousing**: With seasonal spikes, NFI needed a solution that could ramp up quickly and scale without additional labor costs.
- **Real-Time Inventory Visibility**: Unlike manual cycle counts that take weeks, Gather AI updates WMS data in real time.
- **Faster, More Efficient Lost Pallet Retrieval:** With high inventory turnover, NFI eliminated costly delays caused by misplaced pallets.
- **Seamless Integration with Daily Operations**: Drones scan without disrupting pickers, allowing continuous operations even during peak seasons.

> _"Gather AI’s team was very professional. They understood our operations and worked around our needs to ensure a smooth implementation. It was a great experience."_— Onario, NFI

## The Future of Inventory Automation in 3PL Warehousing

For high-velocity 3PL operations like NFI, efficiency, accuracy, and scalability are key to staying competitive. Gather AI’s drone-powered inventory management system eliminates manual cycle counting bottlenecks, improves safety, and provides real-time data for smarter logistics decisions.