L’Oréal opts for Hardis Group’s inventory-taking drone solution

L’Oréal has deployed Hardis Group’s Eyesee inventory-taking drone solution to handle part of its annual inventory audit at the firm’s Cosmétique Active International logistics hub in Creuzier-le-Neuf, France.

Grenoble, January 23, 2019 – Hardis Group, a consulting firm, digital services company and independent software vendor, announces that Cosmétique Active International (CAI), part of the L’Oréal group, has chosen its Eyesee inventory-taking drone solution to handle some of its inventory operations at its logistics hub near Vichy, France. The firm used Eyesee alongside uniform pallet categorization and labeling standards, shaving two-thirds off the time it previously took to complete the inventory. As well as covering all inventory locations, the solution also delivered improved safety and comfort for warehouse operatives.

The Cosmétique Active International logistics hub, near Vichy, France, is where L’Oréal stores all Active Cosmetics finished products (La Roche-Posay, Vichy, Sanoflore, Roger&Gallet SkinCeuticals and CeraVe brands) before shipping them to 50 subsidiaries worldwide. In the past, inventories at the hub—which has a capacity of 25,000 pallets—were completed manually using around a dozen cherry pickers.

In July 2018, CAI teamed up with Hardis Group to trial the Eyesee inventory-taking drone solution in real-life conditions in part of the warehouse. The system, which is overseen by a single operator stationed on the ground, delivered impressive efficiency savings, shaving two-thirds of the time it previously took to complete the inventory and allowing employees to focus on higher value-added tasks. “With this new solution, we’ll no longer have to close down the hub for three days to complete the annual inventory. What’s more, we’ll be able to better serve our customers while the inventory is happening, with no safety concerns,” says Guillaume Bosselin, Logistics Hub Director. L’Oréal group’s statutory auditors have also approved the drone system for accounting and financial audit purposes.

Following the successful trial, CAI will deploy the new solution across all areas of its business in 2019, conducting inventories on the fly and correcting stock errors all year round.