Automation Nation: America's Largest Employer 'Secretly' Tests Self-Driving Floor-Scrubbers
Automation Nation:
America's Largest Employer 'Secretly' Tests Self-Driving Floor-Scrubbers
by Tyler Durden Nov 24, 2017 7:30 PM
Dark and difficult
times lie ahead. Soon, America’s middle class must come to the realization
that the country’s largest
employer–Walmart is quietly testing an army of robots that soon will replace
their jobs. The latest installment is an autonomous floor scrubber being
tested at five store locations near the company’s headquarters in Bentonville,
Arkansas.
A Walmart spokesperson,
Kory Lundberg, confirmed to Chip Cutter, Managing editor at LinkedIn,
that Walmart was indeed testing the robotic scrubbers, but said it is still in
a “proof of concept” phase.
“We’re always testing new ideas
and new technology,” Lundberg said. “We still have a lot more
to learn about how this technology will work best for our different retail
locations.”
In a private Facebook group earlier this month,
someone who claims to be a worker at the Pineville store shared a photo of the
greyish vehicle making a turn near a display for $78 deer feeders. No one is seated in the driver’s seat, and two
“caution, cleaning in progress” banners are shown on both sides of the device. An
ICE logo is also affixed; Holland, Mich.-based International Cleaning
Equipment, a Brain Corp. partner, manufactures the scrubbing equipment itself.
A Walmart spokesperson,
Kory Lundberg, confirmed to Chip Cutter, Managing editor at LinkedIn,
that Walmart was indeed testing the robotic scrubbers, but said it is still in
a “proof of concept” phase.
“We’re always testing new ideas
and new technology,” Lundberg said. “We still have a lot more
to learn about how this technology will work best for our different retail
locations.”
According
to LinkedIn, here are more details documenting the ‘secret tests’ of
robotic scrubbers at various Supercenters..
Multiple
employees who work at the retailer’s 24-hour Supercenter in Pineville, Mo.,
about 20 minutes north of Walmart’s home office, confirmed the use of the
device to me this week, saying it had been tested in their store for
about a month this fall.
In a private Facebook group earlier this month,
someone who claims to be a worker at the Pineville store shared a photo of the
greyish vehicle making a turn near a display for $78 deer feeders. No one is seated in the driver’s seat, and two
“caution, cleaning in progress” banners are shown on both sides of the device. An
ICE logo is also affixed; Holland, Mich.-based International Cleaning
Equipment, a Brain Corp. partner, manufactures the scrubbing equipment itself.
In October, Walmart said
it’s rolling out self-scanning robots in more than 50 U.S. stores to replenish
inventory on shelves. The company is determined to automate the daily tasks of
its workers, but said the bots would not lead to a drop in headcount.
With the retail apocalypse in
full-swing, “retailers are looking for opportunities to automate processes and
stop paying people,” said Richard A. Feinberg, a professor of
consumer sciences and retailing at Purdue University, who forecasts automation
could save retailers such as Walmart.
He also noted, “it changes the
nature of the jobs; it may not mean fewer jobs, it may mean they can retrain
the people to do things that are more useful for them, business wise,” he said.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if it reduces headcount, but I don’t know.”
More importantly, a
Walmart spokesperson said “the maintenance team is actually quite
‘excited’ to work with new technology.” What they don’t know is that their jobs
will be obsolete in a few years after the 50 state rollout commences. All fun
in games today until someone gets a pink slip.
As
Fox News reports,
Walmart is not the only company testing this technology..
According to Phil Duffy, VP of Innovation &
Marketing for Brain Corporation, the company is currently
working with approximately 50 malls and big box retailers across the U.S.
“We
are also in airports, educational campuses, corporate campuses and industrial
sites. In addition, we will be launching in Japan, through our partner,
SoftBank Robotics, by summer 2018,” Duffy said.
In
a preview of what’s to come, Brain Corp., funded by DARPA is leading the
charge through Walmart, America’s largest employer to automate low skill jobs. The middle class or what is left of them
have many dark and difficult days ahead, as we expect this trend to gain
momentum in the coming years.
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