With drone technology steadily making its way into warehousing, it seems Nokia has found some competition.

Austrian mobile data capture and data insights company Anyline has released its own drone inventory management software that it says can be used to scan entire warehouses efficiently.

And just like Nokia did, Anyline wanted a partner to try out its new technology, and partnered with packaging and paper company Mondi; whose products and warehouses Anyline used to develop this autonomous drone barcode scanning solution.

Mondi said it wanted to improve its inventory management process across multiple, large warehouse locations, Mondi tested several technology options including handheld RFID and camera scanner.

Previously, multiple workers would deploy forklifts to manually lift two people at a time to scan inventory across large warehouses, sometimes only once per year.

This process involves working at heights and, due to the need for space and extra safety measures, had to be done outside of warehouse operating hours.

Now, a single drone operator can scan all the inventory isle-by-isle in a warehouse during operating hours.

After going through the several alternatives, Mondi got a breakthrough when it engaged Anyline to apply its mobile data capture technology, using DJI Mini 3 Pro drones.

“Taking inventory in a warehouse using autonomous drones was an exciting challenge and we were happy to partner with Anyline to make it a reality,” says Rainer Steffl, CIO at Mondi.

“After several months of testing, problem solving and integrating with our backend systems, we have successfully counted our first full warehouse, proving the technology a success.”

Steffl said the new drone methos is safer, very accurate and alleviates a mandatory after-hours full warehouse inventory process.

“Both Anyline and Mondi are passionate about innovation,” says Lukas Kinigadner, CEO and co-founder at Anyline.

“We are proud to be a part of this project, which is redefining what is technologically possible in inventory management but can also be applied across other industries. We look forward to continuing to work with Mondi and other organizations redefining expectations and inspiring others to innovate and transform the way they work.”

Anyline’s tech is used by frontline workers in the automotive and retail industries to quickly and accurately scan tire sidewall, tread depth and vehicle data, including tire DOT codes, vehicle identification numbers (VINs), license plates and barcodes, using any standard mobile device or camera-enabled automotive diagnostic devices.