At a Føtex supermarket near Copenhagen, robots are learning to perform one of the most time-consuming jobs in retail.
Developed by Danish start-up Hive Robots and built by China's Unitree, the machines have been training since June. For now, human operators guide every movement, helping the artificial intelligence learn how to handle different products.
The experiment is part of a wider trial with Salling Group, Denmark's largest retailer, which has more than 2,000 stores in six European countries. According to Charlotte Sand, co-founder and CEO of Hive Robots, the robots will initially focus on restocking shelves. They could later check expiry dates, identify empty shelves and spot misplaced goods.
“We work with AI, so with the speed of AI's development, we will also be able to carry out more and to do our tasks better. The robot will be able to work 24-7 eventually. Right now we work in the stores at night when there are no staff or customers around, but eventually we'll work all night, all day. So maybe it doesn't have to be that fast, it can just continue working,” Sand said.
Simon Kudsk, CEO of Føtex, said workers spend between 40 and 50 percent of their time replenishing shelves. The retailer hopes robots will eventually take on some of this repetitive physical work, giving employees more time to assist customers.
“Replenishing and filling up shelves is really the main target at the moment, but we see a huge potential in best before date checks. That's a huge task for our colleagues today. It's really hard to do and you need to be really detailed and we use a lot of hours in that matter every year. So our focus is really to take the replenishment first and then go on to the best before date check,” Kudsk said.
