Auer / Pavia – In logistics, time is money—more so than in almost any other sector. The same holds true for inventory audits. In the summer of 2026, GRUBER Logistics implemented a project-based rollout of drones for inventory management at its warehouse in Pavia, northern Italy. The key takeaway, cross-checked by the client: a dramatic time savings of up to 75 percent, reducing the audit duration from four days to just one. The trial at the facility near Milan highlights the potential of GRUBER’s partnership with HoverSpect, a drone solutions provider specializing in automated inventory processes, which the renowned logistics supplier initiated with preliminary tests last year. Building on the insights gained in Pavia, additional test projects are scheduled for the turn of the year 2026/27 across GRUBER Logistics facilities in Verona, Padua, and Cesena.
“The successful completion of the project at our warehouse near Milan demonstrates that drones offer tangible added value for inventory management. The combination of speed, precision, and richer insights into our inventory and floor space is particularly compelling for us,” says Manuel Scaramuzza, Executive Director Logistics Services & Solutions at GRUBER Logistics. “In HoverSpect, we have found a partner capable of driving real value for us and, ultimately, for our customers.”
Lorenzo Rizzello, CEO and Co-Founder of Milan-based LogTech startup HoverSpect, outlines the core requirements of their product and collaboration with GRUBER Logistics: “Together with GRUBER Logistics, we successfully moved drone-based inventory auditing from the trial phase into practical execution. The most significant result isn’t just the time saved, but the proof that this solution seamlessly integrates into real-world warehouse operations while generating verifiable, actionable data.”
“Completing an inventory audit in a single day instead of the usual three or four delivers a massive efficiency boost,” Rizzello adds. “We are currently developing a solution to automate battery swaps—which are still handled manually—to speed up the process even further.”
Once operational requirements were established in Pavia this summer, the HoverSpect application enabled largely automated stock tracking. At GRUBER Logistics’ Pavia site, drones captured data across roughly 22,000 square meters housing 30,000 pallet locations over three phases. Images recorded by the flight sensors were analyzed using artificial intelligence and fed directly into the warehouse management systems. Supplementary insights on rack occupancy rates and the early detection of unstable loads further enhanced operations at the northern Italian facility. “Better data leads to better decisions,” agreed Lorenzo Rizzello and Manuel Scaramuzza following the conclusion of the tests.
