Asics has deployed autonomous warehouse drones developed by Corvus Robotics at its omnichannel distribution center in Byhalia, Mississippi to improve inventory management. The drones conduct monthly inventory counts in the facility's most critical sections—the singles area housing single pair and returned products, and the case reserve space holding full cases. Before implementation, Asics performed manual counts twice yearly; it now runs seven nightly drone flights starting around 7 p.m. to scan UPCs and count boxes across the 855,000-square-foot facility, which stores nearly 3 million units across roughly 44,000 SKUs.
The drones have recovered misplaced inventory 60% faster than manual processes while cutting 200 labor hours from operations. In one three-month period, they identified 26 misplaced cases containing more than 200 pairs of shoes. Inventory associates review drone footage and images the morning after each flight to catch discrepancies before sending staff to physical locations, enabling desk-side corrections where possible. With improved inventory visibility, Asics no longer needs to hedge on product availability by holding back up to 15 of every 100 products due to fulfillment risk, allowing the company to list all SKUs in online marketplaces and avoid discounting non-listed items.
The deployment reflects a broader industry trend of warehouse automation. Corvus Robotics also serves alcohol distributor Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits and skincare brand Dermalogica, while sportswear brand On partnered with robotics manufacturer Verity in 2024 to deploy drones within a fulfillment center and planned to scale rollout across its facility network.