Tech Bytes: Will robots be displaced to ‘make America great again?’

As the country continues to nurse its emotional Election Day hangover, businesses, including retailers, are contemplating what policies from President Elect Trump’s agenda will be tackled first in an effort to “Make America Great Again.”



Sure, companies are watching the newly elected President’s response to multiple issues, from minimum wage and overtime regulations to online taxes and benefits. But many also wonder how the incoming president plans to fulfill his promise “to bring jobs back to America.” While this concept appeals to the many Americans who are tired of watching jobs move overseas in favor of cheaper labor, truth be told — reestablishing some of these jobs may not be a realistic goal.



Why? Thanks to the expansion of technology, automation is at an all-time high, and new disruptors will maintain this momentum. The perfect example of this evolution is retailers’ attraction to “robotics,” computer hardware and software that controls operations, leverages sensory feedback, and processes data to streamline operations.



Currently, retailers are tapping robotics to improve their omnichannel operations, from ordering capabilities to fulfillment and delivery. With U.S. consumers expected to spend $385 billion online in 2016, and $632 billion in 2020, according to Business Intelligence, robotics investments are primed to deliver big returns.



However, Trump’s plan may create a road bump: He wants to protect American workers from being displaced by these said machines, which could make it more difficult for omnichannel retailers to boost — or even maintain — their productivity.



For the time being, retailers are likely to keep leveraging robotics technology to streamlined their processes and drive productivity and efficiency.



Here are just a few examples:



Walmart: To improve the buy online, pick-up in-store (BOPIS) process, Walmart is testing a huge vending machine-styled kiosk that automatically distributes orders to BOPIS shoppers. After placing their online order, shoppers get an order number that they can input into the kiosk at the store. The kiosk drops the customer's package into a dedicated chute for retrieval.



Lowes: The retailer is looking to streamline the shopping experience with the help of LoweBot, a retail service robot that helps customers navigate the store, find product and check inventory while also serving as a sales assistant to employees. The kiosk-looking device also captures real-time data interactions and detects patterns that can influence business decisions.



Hudson’s Bay Co. The retailer’s new state-of-the-art robotic fulfillment system at its Scarborough warehouse is up to 15 times faster than a traditional manual process. It can hold more than one million units of inventory, processes roughly 4,200 customer orders per hour, and automates inventory movement for storing and shipping.



As retailers become more and more accustomed to the increased efficiencies inherent in robotic technologies, they are unlikely to want to turn back. I’m not going out on a limb when I predict that the examples above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to increased use of robotic technology by retailers. Stay tuned for more updates as they develop.