Technology

Cali supermarkets testing autonomous robots

Provided

June 15, 2022

Five Vallarta Supermarkets in California counties are part of an autonomous cloud-based robot pilot aimed at boosting the shopping experience and improving operational efficiencies.

The robots are from Badger Technologies and the pilot also involves testing the robot inventory management capabilities at a sixth supermarket in a quest to boost on-shelf product availability, according to a press release.

Badger Technologies is a product division of Jabil providing retail automation. The pilot supermarkets are located in Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

"Providing our customers with a clean, safe environment is critical to our customers' experience," Steve Netherton, CIO and VP of continuous improvement at Vallarta Supermarkets, said in the release. "When we look at where to invest in innovative technologies, improving store operations is always a high priority. The Badger Technologies robots are helping us set new standards in store safety and cleanliness while ensuring a superlative shopping experience."

Founded in 1985, Sylmar, Calif.-based Vallarta Supermarkets is one of the largest Latino supermarket chains in the state.

Vallarta's initial proof-of-concept featured a robot equipped with Badger Retail InSpect to complement existing manual floor inspections with automatic hazard detection. After the POC exceeded expectations, Vallarta implemented the pilot to support them in identifying hazards, such as spills of liquids, powders or bulk-item foods, while potentially mitigating risks of slip-and-fall accidents.

Hazard notifications are delivered by the robot to the store's public-address system and mobile pulse alerts. Images are collected and stored for a period, for archival purposes.

"The robot gives us another pair of eyes to be more proactive in pinpointing spills and debris," Suzanne Wong, director of operational excellence at Vallarta Supermarkets, said in the release. "The result is heightened awareness among our staff and customers that we place a big priority on store safety and cleanliness. Other benefits include improvements in customer service, labor efficiency and data for risk management."