The sales team at the ADLER-Modemärkte store in Erfurt, Germany, has had a new colleague since December of 2015: TORY, the world’s first permanently installed RFID inventory robot in retail. TORY autonomously moves through stores and automatically takes stock with a speed of 20,000 to 100,000 new transponders per hour – ten times faster than manual stock taking. It knows the count and location of merchandise so that shortages can be recognized and stock replenished in a timely manner.
The robot starts the inventory process at a predefined time or at the press of a button, reading RFID tags of merchandise while on its way through the store. “Extensive user trials have shown a read accuracy of well above 99%,”says Johannes Trabert, cofounder and managing partner of MetraLabs. TORY even located merchandise that had been missed during manual inventory and was hence unaccounted for in the ERP system. After its work is done, TORY automatically returns to its charging station. High-performance batteries enable it to operate for up to eighteen hours, with charging times of about four hours.
A recently published video shows TORY at work at the ADLER-Modemärkte store: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGTkL_gacvU
TÜV-inspected safety
TORY’s robot technology is certified by German technical inspection association TÜV and has been successfully trialed with users in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Germany. Safe operation of the robot on the sales floor can therefore be guaranteed even during opening hours, says Trabert. The advantages of using robots in retail are clear to him: „More accurate inventory enables significantly improved logistics process management. Furthermore, employee workload is reduced which allows for more customer service.” Beyond inventory, TORY can serve as a shopping assistant, guiding customers to products on the sales floor. The team at MetraLabs is convinced that robots will soon be a natural part of the shopping experience.
Would you like to meet TORY ‘in person’? Just visit us at booth #844 at RFID Live 2016. Or attend our presentation of TORY for the Best New Product Award 2016 on May 4th at 3:50 pm. We would be happy to see you!
Can’t wait? For more information please visit www.metralabs.com or contact us at [email protected]