Badger Technologies, a product division of Jabil, has deployed a pilot program with Vallarta Supermarkets, a chain of 53 full-service markets throughout California, to reinforce operational and customer-service excellence. Badger Technologies® multipurpose autonomous robots support the retailer by identifying hazards at five Vallarta Supermarkets in Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Vallarta also is testing the robot's inventory management capabilities at a sixth location aimed at improving on-shelf product availability.

Prioritizing Store Safety and Cleanliness: Vallarta's initial proof-of-concept (POC) 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 a five-store 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. Data-Driven Business Outcomes: Vallarta Supermarkets has further initiated a POC at a sixth store to test a robot equipped with Badger® Retail InSight for automated detection of out-of-stock product inventory. Cloud-based analytics and reporting software generate a list of absent, misplaced and/or mispriced products for issue remediation.

Dashboard data provides insights into customer buying trends along with the performance of product displays and advertising promotions. This automated process also assists Vallarta's pricing departments with collaborating and prioritizing product restocking.