Robotics for Inventory Movement: How to Cut Searching, Shrink Delays, and Keep Counts Real

If you are looking into robotics for inventory movement, you are probably chasing a problem that feels oddly invisible. Orders are late, pickers complain about empty locations, and supervisors spend too much time hunting down pallets. Yet the dashboard says inventory is there. The building is busy, but the work does not feel productive.

That disconnect usually points to internal movement. Putaway is late. Replenishment is inconsistent. Transfers happen without scans. Returns get staged without clear locations. The result is ghost inventory and scavenger hunts. Robotics helps most when it makes internal movement structured, predictable, and visible in the WMS.

Inventory movement is the hidden engine of fulfillment

Picking gets the glory because it is closest to shipping, but picking depends on everything that happened earlier. If putaway was sloppy, locations drift. If replenishment was late, pickers hit empty bins. If transfers were unscanned, inventory truth becomes a rumor.

Maureen also says, "And in the 3PL business these days everything's immediate, just in time." When the business is just in time, the warehouse cannot afford internal delays. Internal movement is what keeps the floor supplied with the right inventory at the right time, which is why movement problems show up as missed cutoffs and frantic exceptions.

Where movement breaks most often

Movement usually breaks in predictable places: receiving that gets compressed, putaway done in a rush, replenishment triggered too late, or bulk storage that becomes a mystery. Another common break is returns processing, where product gets staged temporarily and then never returns to a controlled location.

When movement breaks, the warehouse pays twice. First, it pays in wasted travel as people search. Second, it pays in delays as picks are reworked and waves are rebuilt. Robotics can reduce both costs, but only if it is paired with strict scanning and system updates.

Robotics reduces travel in internal moves, not just in picking

Most people associate robotics with picking, but internal moves are often just as travel-heavy. A putaway driver can spend a surprising share of the shift moving empty pallets, shuttling totes, or moving inventory between storage and forward pick. Those tasks are necessary, but the travel is often inefficient.

Holly Woods, Director of Operations at G10 Fulfillment, says, "The robots are allowing efficiency with pick paths." That idea applies beyond picks. If robots reduce the distance traveled for internal moves, labor hours shift toward productive touches. As Holly adds, "They're lowering fatigue on employees." Less fatigue also reduces the likelihood of mis-slots, which is a major driver of inventory drift.

Replenishment is where robotics often pays back fastest

Empty pick locations are expensive because they trigger exceptions at the worst moment: when an order is already in motion. If replenishment arrives late, pickers stop, waves stall, and supervisors scramble. A replenishment miss is not just a replenishment problem, it is a throughput problem.

Robotics can support replenishment by moving inventory from bulk to forward pick more predictably and by doing it earlier in the day. The payoff is fewer empty locations, fewer mid-wave exceptions, and less end-of-day chaos. In practice, that stability is often more valuable than raw speed.

Putaway accuracy is the foundation of inventory movement automation

Putaway is where inventory truth is either created or corrupted. If putaway locations are wrong, every downstream step inherits the error. Robotics can help putaway by structuring movement paths and by supporting consistent staging, but the real protection comes from scans and WMS updates.

Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment at G10 Fulfillment, says, "You want everything to be scanned in the warehouse, nothing done on paper." When putaway is scanned, the system stays aligned with physical reality. When putaway is done on paper or by memory, robotics cannot save you, because the robot will move inventory quickly into the wrong truth.

WMS visibility turns movement into traceability

Internal movement is only valuable if you can trace it. If the WMS does not record moves reliably, the warehouse becomes a detective agency. That work feels busy, but it produces no shipments. A robotics program that does not improve traceability is a program that will eventually be blamed for problems it did not create.

Bryan Wright, CTO and COO at G10 Fulfillment, explains, "A good WMS tracks inventory through the warehouse at every point that you touch it." Bryan adds, "So there's this completely next level of tracking that occurs within that good WMS versus a not good WMS." That visibility is what allows managers to find where drift begins: receiving, putaway, replenishment, or picking. When you can see the drift point, you can fix root causes instead of chasing symptoms.

Cycle counting gets easier when movement is structured

High-quality cycle counting depends on stable locations and reliable records of movement. When inventory drifts constantly, cycle counts become whack-a-mole. Robotics can help by reducing ad hoc moves and by making internal movement more consistent, which reduces the number of mystery discrepancies that cycle count teams must chase.

In practical terms, robotics supports cycle counting by making the warehouse calmer. Calm warehouses have fewer emergency moves and fewer temporary staging piles. That means cycle counts can focus on real issues instead of cleaning up chaos.

Exception handling must include movement exceptions

Inventory movement automation creates its own exception categories: blocked aisles, missing pallets, damaged units, or misrouted totes. These are solvable, but only if the operation defines who owns them and how quickly they must be resolved. If movement exceptions are unmanaged, they turn into cascading delays for picking and packing.

A strong approach is to treat movement exceptions as a first-class workflow with clear ownership and scanning rules. If a move cannot be confirmed by scan, it is not complete. That single discipline prevents a large share of inventory drift.

3PL environments need flexible movement rules

In a 3PL, inventory movement must adapt to changing client needs. One client adds SKUs. Another shifts seasonality. Another requires special handling or HAZMAT segregation. Movement rules must change without weeks of rework, or the floor will build workarounds.

Bryan also says, "We have an ability to configure our system to the customer very quickly." Fast configuration helps because it allows movement workflows to evolve with the business. When configuration is slow, the system falls behind reality, and inventory truth becomes less trustworthy. That is when searching and rework return.

How to evaluate robotics for inventory movement

Start with measurement. Measure how often pick locations go empty mid-wave. Measure how many labor hours are spent searching for inventory. Measure putaway timing from receipt to location confirmation. Measure replenishment timing from trigger to completion. Those metrics identify where movement is breaking today.

Then test readiness. If scanning is inconsistent or item masters are messy, fix those first. Robotics will not forgive weak basics. It will amplify them. Movement automation is most successful when it reduces the number of untracked touches rather than simply moving inventory faster.

How G10 makes inventory movement a competitive advantage

G10 was founded in 2009 and specializes in B2B and D2C e-commerce, retail, wholesale, and HAZMAT-compliant fulfillment. Inventory movement is treated as a core performance driver because it determines picking stability, packing timing, and accuracy. The goal is not to be busy. The goal is to keep inventory real and keep work flowing.

Maureen Milligan, Director of Operations and Projects at G10 Fulfillment, says, "We've seen fabulous results, a huge increase in productivity." If you are considering robotics for inventory movement, talk with G10 about your putaway timing, your replenishment misses, and your exception patterns. You will get a practical plan to tighten scanning, improve visibility, and reduce travel so your warehouse spends less time searching and more time shipping. The benefit is straightforward: fewer empty locations, fewer surprises, and a calmer floor that can scale.