Sam’s Club announced Thursday the completion of a national rollout of Inventory Scan towers that have been added to its fleet of robotic scrubbers.
The deployment is part of a partnership with Brain Corp, an artificial intelligence company creating core technology in robotics. The new scanning technology has been fitted to the almost 600 autonomous floor scrubbers already deployed within Sam’s Club locations.
"Our initial goal at Sam’s Club was to convert time historically spent on scrubbers to more member-focused activities. Our autonomous scrubbers have exceeded this goal. In addition to increasing the consistency and frequency of floor cleaning, intelligent scrubbers have empowered associates with critical insights," said Todd Garner, VP of in-club product management, in a statement. "These scrubbers help associates ensure products are out for sale, priced correctly, and findable, ultimately making it easier to directly engage with our members."
Once installed on the scrubber, the cloud-connected Inventory Scan tower captures data as it moves autonomously around the club. As functionality is deployed, insights such as product localization, planogram compliance, product stock levels, and verification of pricing accuracy will be delivered to the club.
Each function from the technology intends to minimize or remove the need for specific manual processes while also removing human error, according to Sam’s Club.
"The speed and efficiency of the deployment of this next generation retail technology with Sam’s Club is a testament to the strength of our team," said David Pinn, CEO at Brain Corp, in a statement. "Through the use of Inventory Scan, Sam’s Clubs across the country are able to access a trove of critical inventory data in real time, which they can use to better inform decision making, run their clubs more efficiently and provide a better in-club experience for their members."
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