Busy Beaver officials look to expand use of autonomous inventory robots

Patrick Varine, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read

Sep. 18—Following a successful pilot program at its Irwin store, Busy Beaver officials have put an autonomous robot to work checking inventory at its Delmont location, a move that has bumped up technology across the board.

"We've implemented electronic shelf labels, which is a change from the pilot, which was done with traditional paper tags," said Adam Gunnett, director of information technology and marketing for the Harmar-based chain of home improvement stores.

The robot, designed by Badger Technologies out of Kentucky, still keys off of the barcode displayed on shelf tags, taking photos, focusing on empty shelves and generating a report for the staff which opens the next morning.

"Usually, it runs after hours when the store is closed, but sometimes we'll turn it on around 7 p.m.," Gunnett said. "People like to take photos of it when they see it moving down an aisle."

Performing inventory throughout a Busy Beaver typically takes about 80 hours of employee time per week, Gunnett said. With the robot handling those duties, employees are free to help customers.

"Our goal is not to replace people, but rather to not have them laden with this type of repetitive task," he said.

It is all in furtherance of "working on little efficiencies to make things easier," Gunnett said.

Busy Beaver officials would like to put a few more of the robots into action in 2023.

"We'd like to bring one back to the Irwin store, possibly to our Mt. Pleasant store, and we're looking to remodel our White Oak store at the end of the year," Gunnett said.

Company officials also are considering hosting a social media contest to give the robot a name.

And while it is difficult to measure precisely the impact it is having when it comes to saving employees' time and increasing efficiency, Gunnett said there are definitely some anecdotal indications.

"We've seen our in-stock levels go up, which usually translates to better overall sales," he said. "And when folks from our other stores have come here, they get a little jealous and ask when they're going to get one."

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .