Name: Walmart pulls the plug on robotic shelf scanners that had been deployed in Orlando
Brand: orlandosentinel.com
SKU: orlandosentinel-com-176
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Walmart pulls the plug on robotic shelf scanners that had been deployed in Orlando

preview

AdvertisementBy Orlando SentinelNov 25, 2020 at 4:54 pmWalmart is no longer working with the it deployed last year at some metro Orlando stores, which one expert said shows that not all new labor-saving technology will work out.Last November, the autonomous Bossa Nova machines were at stores in Orlando, Sanford, Kissimmee, Winter Garden, Leesburg, Mount Dora, Orange City, DeLand, Port Orange and Ormond Beach.AdvertisementThey were used to scan shelves of merchandise such as chips or canned goods to check inventory for issues with prices or labels.A Walmart spokeswoman said in an email the retailer had ended the venture with Bossa Nova but would continue using other robotics like a floor-scrubbing machine that had also been deployed across Central Florida.Advertisement“We’ve worked with Bossa Nova for five years and together we learned a lot about how technology can assist associates, make jobs easier and provide a better customer experience,” the spokeswoman wrote. “This was one idea we tried in roughly 500 stores just as we are trying other ideas in additional stores.“We will continue testing new technologies and investing in our own processes and apps to best understand and track our inventory and help move products to our shelves as quickly as we can.”Robert Maxim, a research associate at the nonprofit public policy Brookings Institution, pointed out that tech should save companies money or improve productivity.“Technological possibility does not equal technological reality,” Maxim said. “At the end of the day, companies adopt automation when it thinks it will help their bottom line.”Maxim added a problem with these robots could be that front-line Walmart employees don’t make that much money.“The automation technology may not have actually saved them a lot of money,” Maxim said.People were interested in the autonomous shelf scanners because it “so obviously illustrates” a dystopian fear of robots replacing human workers, Maxim explained, but other technologies like self-checkout save companies money by requiring fewer workers.“This got so much attention because it was so obviously visible,” Maxim said. “It is a very attractive anecdote to latch onto.”AdvertisementThe coronavirus pandemic spurring more people to shop online also might have had ramifications for Walmart’s robots.“When you have human staff pulling inventory from the shelf to fill online orders … the staff are going to know when something’s out of stock,” Maxim said.Walmart offers pickup and delivery options to online shoppers. The company has double the personal shoppers than it had last year, with more than 157,000 employees ready to fill holiday gift and grocery orders, Tom Ward, a Walmart senior vice president said in a November news release.“It makes me proud to think six years ago we started with only a few hundred personal shoppers, and today, they’re crucial to providing services like pickup and delivery that our customers have come to see as essential,” Ward wrote. “Our stores have really focused on convenience over the last few years, and that’s allowed us to quickly shift to the changing needs of our customers.”Bossa Nova CEO Sarjoun Skaff declined to comment on Walmart, but in a statement touted his technology’s performance in more than 500 stores. He said the company is looking to continue using it in retail and other areas.afuller@orlandosentinel.com Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Orlando SentinelNov 25, 2020 at 4:54 pmWalmart is no longer working with the it deployed last year at some metro Orlando stores, which one expert said shows that not all new labor-saving technology will work out.Last November, the autonomous Bossa Nova machines were at stores in Orlando, Sanford, Kissimmee, Winter Garden, Leesburg, Mount Dora, Orange City, DeLand, Port Orange and Ormond Beach.AdvertisementThey were used to scan shelves of merchandise such as chips or canned goods to check inventory for issues with prices or labels.A Walmart spokeswoman said in an email the...

Walmart pulls the plug on robotic shelf scanners that had been deployed in Orlando

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS