Busy Beaver Building Centers Deploy Badger Technologies Autonomous Robots to Improve Inventory Management, Price Integrity and Planogram Compliance

Rhea-AI Summary

Badger Technologies has initiated a rollout of multipurpose autonomous robots at Busy Beaver Building Centers to streamline inventory management. Following a successful pilot, these robots will cut down inventory shelf checks from 80 hours weekly to 40 minutes daily. The Delmont store is also adopting Electronic Shelf Labels to enhance pricing accuracy. The integration of these technologies is aimed at improving operational efficiency amidst challenges like inflation and supply chain disruptions.

Positive

• Robots reduce inventory checks from 80 hours weekly to 40 minutes daily.
• Implementation of Electronic Shelf Labels enhances pricing accuracy.
• Real-time data access for employees and corporate teams improves operational efficiency.

Negative

• Challenges from inflation and supply chain disruptions may affect profitability.

Tech-Savvy Home Improvement Chain Adopts Retail Robots to Automate Inventory Shelf Scans, Including Electronic Shelf Labels, to Support Reduction of Product & Price Checks from 80 Hours Weekly to 40 Minutes Daily

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Badger Technologies, a product division of Jabil and leader in retail automation, has announced a production rollout of its Badger Technologies® multipurpose autonomous robots with Busy Beaver Building Centers, Inc., operator of 25 full-line home improvement centers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Following a successful pilot launched earlier this year, Badger Technologies is deploying production robots starting at a new store in Delmont, Penn., where associates seamlessly manage more than 33,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) while embracing the latest in retail automation to improve operations and shopping experiences.

Busy Beaver uses Badger Technologies multipurpose autonomous robots to keep shelves fully stocked with the right products at the right prices. (Photo: Business Wire)

As part of Busy Beaver’s commitment to adopt leading-edge technology, the company has fully embraced Electronic Shelf Labels to eliminate manual price changes, as well as more closely monitor in-store traffic and buying trends. In fact, the Delmont location is one of the first home-improvement stores in the U.S. to use digital price tags exclusively for its inventory.

“We relentlessly look for innovative ways to increase efficiencies and empower our associates to provide legendary customer service,” said Adam Gunnett, director of IT & marketing for Busy Beaver Building Centers. “The Badger team has done a great job of collaborating with us to optimize the robot’s functionality while working diligently with our digital price tag vendor to customize the tags so they could be more easily read and scanned in a timelier manner.”

Safeguarding Price Integrity and On-Shelf Availability During Turbulent Times

The impact of inflation, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and upticks in spending across the home-improvement sector led to myriad operational challenges for Busy Beaver, including the pressure to handle a month’s worth of price changes in a week. To reduce this burden, Badger Technologies integrates pricing data collected during the robot’s daily inventory shelf scans with Busy Beaver’s digital price tag system using an open Application Programming Interface (API).

Additionally, Badger Technologies multipurpose autonomous robots enable Busy Beaver to keep shelves fully stocked with the right mix of products at the right prices without overburdening employees. Previously, manual inventory checks took more than 80 hours per week, with several employees dedicated to the effort. Now, the robot scans all shelves and planograms each night and generates a report that takes approximately 30-to-40 minutes to review.

“Badger Technologies brings a lot of data-driven advantages to the retail industry,” stated William “BJ” Santiago, CEO of Badger Technologies. “For Busy Beaver, we funnel all relevant and timely data from the store’s Point-of-Sale (POS) system directly into a dashboard that employees access on a tablet. Even their corporate merchandising team can access real-time data to visualize planograms for compliance without having to visit the store.”

Plans are underway to deploy robots at additional Busy Beaver locations to support associates to optimize store performance while elevating customer service. “The reaction from our employees has been very warm, inviting and thankful,” said Kevin Michel, general manager of Busy Beaver’s Delmont store. “It’s a game changer because they now can focus on being a salesperson, cashier or handling inventory control versus going and looking for thousands of items throughout the store.”

Supporting Resources

• Case Study: Busy Beaver Building Centers Finds Its Technology Sweet Spot with Badger Technologies’ Multipurpose Autonomous Robot

About Badger Technologies

Badger Technologies is a product division of Jabil (NYSE: JBL), a manufacturing solutions provider that delivers comprehensive design, manufacturing, supply chain and product management services. A robotics pioneer, Badger Technologies has deployed more than 600 robots that automate hazard detection and resolve a host of inventory and data disconnects to improve on-shelf product availability, price integrity, store profitability and shopping experiences. As part of Jabil Retail, Badger Technologies has access to leading-edge retail automation technologies, innovative cloud software and services, global supply chain management capabilities and world-class manufacturing services.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220908005238/en/

Michael Kovacs

Senior Director, Marketing, Jabil

1.408.427.1191

michael_kovacs@jabil.com

Source: Badger Technologies

FAQ

What is the impact of Badger Technologies' robots on Busy Beaver's inventory management?

The robots reduce inventory checks from 80 hours weekly to 40 minutes daily, significantly improving efficiency.

How are Electronic Shelf Labels being used at Busy Beaver?

Busy Beaver is using Electronic Shelf Labels to eliminate manual price changes and enhance monitoring of pricing accuracy.

What challenges is Busy Beaver facing in the home improvement sector?

Busy Beaver is dealing with inflation, supply chain disruptions, and labor shortages, which pressure their operational processes.

Where is the new Busy Beaver store deploying the robots located?

The new Busy Beaver store using the robots is located in Delmont, Pennsylvania.

What is Jabil's relationship with Badger Technologies?

Badger Technologies is a product division of Jabil, which provides manufacturing solutions and technology for retail automation.