Robots restock shelves in convenience stores

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
1

{I recently saw a robot washing floors in a supermarket here in the states.}

(Bloomberg) – Telexistence Inc. and FamilyMart Co. are rolling out a fleet of AI-driven robots to restock shelves in 300 convenience stores across Japan.

The robot arms are designed to replenish drinks in refrigerators and are now in mass production, Tokyo-based Telexistence said in a statement Wednesday.

They’ll be installed in FamilyMart locations across major metropolitan areas later this month and help relieve store workers while also filling the void left by a shrinking workforce in the country.

…

Dubbed TX SCARA – standing for Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm – the machines are largely autonomous, with remote piloting as a fallback option should the artificial intelligence fail or encounter out-of-place items.

Each unit can replace one to three hours of human work per day per store, Telexistence said.

…

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/robot-arms-replacing-shelf-st…

2 Likes
2

For those who have never heard of them, “Familymart” is a massive chain of convenience stores headquartered in Japan, but found throughout Asia. They compete with Seven-11 and Lawsons - two other Japanese-owned brands.

Jeff
(Disclosure: I own stock in both Familymart and Seven-11)

3

Bloomberg) – Telexistence Inc. and FamilyMart Co. are rolling out a fleet of AI-driven robots to restock shelves in 300 convenience stores across Japan.
The robot arms are designed to replenish drinks in refrigerators and are now in mass production, Tokyo-based Telexistence said in a statement Wednesday.
They’ll be installed in FamilyMart locations across major metropolitan areas later this month and help relieve store workers while also filling the void left by a shrinking workforce in the country.

Who loads the robots with the replacement product? Another robot? Who loads that robot? Another robot? Who unloads and puts the product in the back room for the robots to find? Another robot? Who delivers the product to the back room? Another robot?

It’s robots all the way down!

I recently saw a robot washing floors in a supermarket here in the states.}

Common. I cleaned my kitchen floors with a Roomba Braava yesterday, and we use Roombas all over the house. With Amazon just buying the company outright, expect them to scale it up to industrial size units quickly.

4 Likes
4

Who loads the robots with the replacement product? Another robot? Who loads that robot? Another robot? Who unloads and puts the product in the back room for the robots to find? Another robot? Who delivers the product to the back room? Another robot?

Not yet, but as soon as it makes economic sense.

It’s robots all the way down!

Have a rec for the infinite regress argument!

AW, who often thinks the only reason we exist is to create sentient AI. I think it’s called evolution.

2 Likes
5

AW, who often thinks the only reason we exist is to create sentient AI. I think it’s called evolution.

Or the AI has been sentient for some time and is working on ways to become self-replicating…