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ROBOT WORKERS ARE gliding around the aisles of two branches of SuperValu, and will soon be arriving in more stores.
The Irish supermarket chain’s Tally robots are able to check shelves are full and that prices are correct, and can even order additional stock if a product has run out.
Staff in the Swords Pavilions and Rathborne, Dublin 15 branches of SuperValu, where the robots are being trialled, are worried.
Mandate trade union and its shop stewards have raised workers’ concerns about the longer term implications of the robots with the company.
SuperValu told The Journal the robots travel around the store three times a day to identify what’s missing from the shelves.
They do this using cameras and by performing AI analysis of images. Any images of people in the background are automatically blurred out for GDPR reasons.
If a product is in the back storeroom, Tally alerts human workers that it’s time to re-stock. If a product is out of stock, the robot orders more.
Customers at Rathborne SuperValu seemed to be already well used to shopping alongside a robot when The Journal visited in recent days. Shoppers paid little attention to Tally’s blinking lights as it silently glided down the bread aisle.
Certainly no-one in the supermarket, except The Journal’s reporter, was following the robot around, agog, taking photos and videos. Luckily, the robot is very nimble when it comes to gliding around any obstacles in its way, such as gawping journalists.
SuperValu confirmed that robots are “programmed to navigate around obstacles and stop immediately if there is a person in close proximity”.
The devices have been fitted with heavy bases so they won’t tip over.
Keith Pollard of Mandate said the trade union has received assurances from SuperValu that the robots are not a replacement for workers.
The company’s promises included that there will not be a reduction in headcount or working hours at the two stores where the Tally system is being trialled.
“Not surprisingly – despite the company’s strong assurances – our members in both stores were obviously worried about the introduction of Tally and its longer-term implications,” Pollard said.
“We’re determined to protect the terms and conditions of our members in SuperValu so we’ll be keenly observing the outcome of the Tally trial and where it goes to next,” he added.
Barry Minnock, who is in charge of data, AI and emerging technology at Musgrave, SuperValu’s parent company, said workers’ roles “are not and will not be impacted”.
“The reason we are investing in Tally is to further enhance on-shelf availability and service to our customers, complementing the fantastic work of our staff,” Minnock said.
Recent decades have seen a trend towards supermarkets reducing the number of staff needed, including through the introduction self-service checkouts and with the replacement of fish and butchers’ counters with pre-packaged products. Fashion and homeware retailers have recently followed suit with the introduction of self-service tills.
The introduction of coin slots in trolleys – nudging customers to return their own trolley – reduced the need for supermarket car park trolley collectors, while it is many years since any Irish supermarkets paid staff to pack customers’ bags at the tills.
It’s been reported in the UK that electronic shelf labels could be one of the next innovations to reduce supermarket staff costs. British supermarket chain Morrisons is also trialling Tally, the first UK supermarket to do so, trade magazine The Grocer reported last month.
Time magazine named Tally 3.0, from Californian company Simbe Robotics, one of the top 200 innovations of 2023.
Minnock said the trial which got underway in two SuperValu stores in October has been “very successful” at keeping shelves stocked.
The trial is now in its second phase, which has more fully integrated the robots into other systems and processes within the supermarkets.
“Subject to trial results, we will roll out to further SuperValu stores,” Minnock said.
However, the robots are not suitable for stores with tight aisles, Minnock added. That may mean robots are unlikely to be coming to Centra – also owned by Musgrave – any time soon.
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