In most warehouse operations, inventory problems do not begin because stock is missing. They begin when the physical location or identity of a pallet no longer matches the WMS record.
These discrepancies can remain hidden between cycle counts and audits, surfacing later as picking delays, emergency searches, customer disputes, write-offs or audit pressure.
The difference between what your WMS records say and what has recently been physically checked is what we call the Inventory Assurance Gap.
Explore the Inventory Assurance Gap ➤
RAWview Assure automatically checks physical pallet inventory against your existing WMS or ERP records.
Using autonomous drones and a ground robot, the service captures pallet and location data, compares it with expected system records and flags discrepancies before they become operational, customer or audit issues.
1. Automated pallet inventory checks
Verify thousands of high-bay pallet locations in hours without relying on routine manual stock checks.
2. WMS/ERP comparison and supporting evidence
Compare physical observations with expected system records and retain time-stamped visual and barcode evidence.
3. Safe, repeatable and scalable
Run checks alongside live warehouse operations or within agreed operating windows, without routine working-at-height activity.
Reduce manual stock-checking effort.
Impact: Reduced operational burden
Resolve discrepancies with stronger evidence.
Impact: Reduced delay and financial leakage
Strengthen inventory assurance controls.
Impact: Stronger assurance and control
RAWview Assure does more than automate physical stock checks. It creates a repeatable control loop around warehouse inventory.
Deployment begins by establishing a verified baseline of what is physically present, where it is located and how accurately this matches the WMS or ERP record.
As verification is repeated, customers can expect:
- broader and more frequent checking without increasing manual counting effort;
- earlier identification of missing, misplaced, duplicated, unexpected or unreadable inventory;
- faster, evidence-backed reconciliation of physical observations with system records;
- clearer ownership and resolution of inventory discrepancies;
- recurring exception patterns to reveal underlying process weaknesses and root causes;
- stronger reporting, governance and audit evidence over time.
The practical result is a shift from periodic, reactive stock checking towards a more controlled and evidence-backed inventory assurance process. Inventory Assurance maturity should increase, operational exposure should reduce, and management can place greater confidence in reported inventory accuracy.
Performance trends and verified site data can also be used to demonstrate improvement, prioritise further action and build a financial case based on the customer’s actual operation rather than unverified assumptions.
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Automated warehouse inventory verification is a managed service that provides objective confirmation that physical inventory matches system records within a warehouse environment.
RAWview Assure operates alongside an existing Warehouse Management System, independently verifying pallet locations and identities without disrupting live operations or relying on manual stock counts.
The emphasis is on delivering consistent assurance over time, rather than replacing core systems or introducing additional operational workload for site teams.
Verification is carried out by autonomously scanning pallet locations within the warehouse and comparing observed inventory positions against existing system records.
Verification tasks can be scheduled or run continuously alongside live operations, with results made available through a secure user interface or integrated directly into existing WMS or ERP systems.
RAWview remains responsible for system operation and verification delivery, allowing warehouse teams to focus on outcomes rather than managing the underlying technology.
The primary benefit is increased confidence in inventory accuracy through regular, repeatable verification of physical stock.
By reducing reliance on periodic manual counts, warehouses can minimise operational disruption, lower working-at-height exposure, and identify discrepancies earlier.
Over time, this leads to improved decision-making, better audit readiness, and reduced dependence on labour-intensive stocktake processes.
Independent inventory verification is already deployed across a range of live warehouse environments, including 3PL, manufacturing, automotive, and distribution operations.
Organisations such as XPO Logistics, Princes Foods, PD Ports, Knowles Logistics, Kite Packaging, Charles Kendall Freight, Great Bear Distribution, and GS Yuasa use autonomous verification as part of their wider inventory control and assurance processes.
In each case, the objective is to improve confidence in inventory accuracy while maintaining operational continuity and minimising manual intervention.
Independent inventory verification delivers a consistently high level of accuracy by objectively confirming physical inventory positions against system records.
Observed verification accuracy typically exceeds 99%, assuming standard barcode quality and site conditions. Where exceptions or unreadable labels are encountered, these are explicitly flagged rather than inferred, ensuring transparency rather than assumed correctness.
This approach improves confidence in inventory data without masking underlying data quality issues.
Verification outputs include confirmed pallet locations, identified discrepancies, and supporting visual records, all accessible through a secure user interface or exportable for integration with existing systems.
Typical verification capacity allows a single system to cover several thousand locations per day, depending on site layout, operating windows, and label quality.
The focus is on delivering actionable verification results rather than raw scan volumes.
Yes. The technology we deploy through RAWview Assure is designed to operate safely alongside live warehouse activity without disrupting normal operations.
The system follows defined navigation paths, uses controlled operating behaviours, and adheres to established safety protocols. Verification tasks can be scheduled during operational or non-operational hours, depending on site preference.
This significantly reduces the need for working at height and manual intervention during routine stock verification.
Yes. The service is designed to operate alongside existing Warehouse Management Systems rather than replace them.
Verification results can be reviewed independently or integrated into existing WMS or ERP platforms via standard data exports or APIs, allowing discrepancies to be identified and resolved within established workflows.
No changes to core systems are typically required.
The system is designed for continuous, repeatable operation within warehouse environments and includes an integrated charging and power management setup.
Battery technology and charging behaviour are managed as part of the service, requiring no specialist handling by site teams. Operational readiness and uptime are maintained by RAWview as part of the RAWview Assure service.
Automated warehouse inventory verification reduces reliance on manual stock counts and ad-hoc checking, allowing warehouse teams to focus on core operational activities.
Because data capture can run alongside live operations, it avoids the disruption typically associated with traditional stocktakes and cycle counts.
This leads to more predictable workflows and reduced operational overhead.
The cost of poor inventory verification is rarely limited to the labour used for stock counts. When physical pallet locations do not match WMS or ERP records, the cost appears elsewhere: emergency searches, picking delays, rework, customer disputes, write-offs, audit preparation, avoidable capacity loss and management time spent investigating discrepancies.
Automated warehouse inventory verification reduces the direct cost and disruption of routine cycle counting, while also identifying discrepancies before they affect fulfilment, customer service or operational planning. It allows more warehouse locations to be checked more frequently without increasing manual scanning effort or headcount.
The commercial value therefore comes from both direct savings and avoided exposure:
Doing nothing does not preserve the status quo. It allows the gap between physical inventory and system records to continue generating hidden operational and financial cost.
Where a financial case is required, RAWview develops it from validated information gathered during the Inventory Assurance Site Diagnostic. This ensures the business case reflects the customer’s actual warehouse, processes and exposure rather than relying on guessed inputs or generic savings assumptions.
In most cases, no changes to existing warehouse infrastructure are required.
The system is designed to operate within standard racking layouts and aisle configurations using a preconfigured digital twin of the site. Navigation, transport routes, and operating parameters are defined during implementation without requiring physical modification to racking, floors, or storage layouts.
Any site-specific considerations are assessed during our Site Diagnostic to ensure suitability before deployment.
automated warehouse inventory verification is suitable for any warehouse or storage facility that relies on palletised goods stored in racking.
This includes 3PL operations, manufacturing warehouses, distribution centres, and regulated storage environments where inventory accuracy and auditability are critical. Suitability depends on factors such as racking configuration, barcode standards, and access conditions, which are assessed during discovery.
Yes. Inventorydata capture can be performed under a range of lighting conditions, including low-light or out-of-hours environments.
Operating conditions are assessed during setup to ensure reliable capture and verification. Where environmental factors may affect performance, these are identified and accounted for as part of deployment planning.
Typical deployments are completed within a short timeframe once feasibility and site readiness are confirmed.
The exact timeline depends on warehouse size, layout complexity, and operational requirements. Implementation is planned to minimise disruption and align with existing site operations.
Indicative timelines are provided following discovery and feasibility assessment.
The service is delivered as a managed solution, with system operation, monitoring, and ongoing support handled by RAWview.
This includes software updates, system health monitoring, and technical support as required. Site teams are not expected to manage or maintain the technology directly.
"All 16,000 pallet locations are now automatically audited every five days. Previously, it took one person and a scissor lift three to four weeks."
"Thanks to RAWview, we’ve been able to streamline our operations, reduce human error, and improve customer satisfaction. We’d highly recommend to any business looking to upgrade their stock control processes"
“One of the first companies in the UK to embrace drone technology, Kite Packaging has been optimising its warehouse through automated inventory control, showcasing an innovative approach both to its own operations and to customers"
“Really impressed with this drone-based stock control system. Since working with RAWview, we have a fully automated audit of every one of our 16,000 pallet locations every 5 days. It used to take one person on a scissor lift 3-4 weeks to complete this task.”
“The speed of our scanning time has improved well over 100%. It’s these kind of efficiency improvements that we feel is vital to future proofing our operation and ensure that we continuously meet the demands of our customers by staying ahead of the curve.”
“The future of warehousing! What an amazing, well-engineered piece of technology that not only saves time and improves our team’s productivity, but also have a positive impact in regards to health and safety.”
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