Hyundai Glovis cuts inventory time 90% with drones
The company deployed two drones to the consolidation center at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in the first half of 2025 to monitor inventories of unassembled parts.
According to Hyundai Glovis, each inventory check now takes an average of 30 minutes in the facility, a reduction from the previous 300 minutes required when the process was carried out manually.
'Using fisheye cameras, the drones extract specific features such as angles and surface patterns. An accelerometer and a gyroscope -- which track the drone's motion and orientation -- help detect the location of the product, while stereo cameras determine its height,' a Hyundai Glovis official explained.
'By integrating these various technologies, we have enabled smoother inventory management.'
The drone autonomously flies inside the consolidation center, capturing images and location data in a predetermined sequence, and sends the analyzed results to the logistics management system.
Battery management and replacement are also handled automatically at the drone's base station without human intervention.
Hyundai Glovis said the drones rely on cameras and vision technology instead of GPS, ensuring accurate movement within the consolidation center and other indoor facilities. The company plans to deploy additional drones at the Georgia plant and expand the system to other logistics centers within the group.
Glovis also plans to further advance its drone technology as part of building smart plants for improved efficiency. This aligns with Hyundai Motor Group's broader efforts to introduce robots for simple but hazardous tasks in its automobile manufacturing processes.
The group is currently deploying automated guided vehicles developed by Hyundai Wia for logistics at the Georgia plant and plans to add Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot Atlas by the end of this year.
'As a proactive response to the fast-changing logistics industry environment, we will continue to secure new technologies,' the official added.
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