Tally the Robot Promises to Run Inventory so You Don’t Have To

15 Dec 2015

Simbe Robotics created an inventory automation and analytics robot called Tally. Tally promises to be cheaper than human resources, while executing inventory tasks – including ensuring shelves are stocked and displayed properly – with higher accuracy. (all images via Simbe Robotics)

I thought all the service droids from Star Wars were a little far-fetched in ability, but this bot is pretty close to an R2 unit. Also... putting stock boys out of work, not the future they wanted.

Imagine it’s 6am on Black Friday. You’ve dressed in full body armor to avoid injury. It’s dark. It’s cold. You just hope you can find the items for which you’ve come. But you know restocking shelves is a difficult job, even for the most diligent of workers.

To your surprise, as you enter the store, a slender robot rovers to your side in an aisle. It looks like a fancy cylindrical fan that seems to be scanning the shelves. It methodically does so along both walls of products in your aisle, and then rovers away. An employee quickly follows the robot, and replaces the low stock of the Hobbit DVDs,.

Confused, you grab one, place it in your cart, and wonder if you’ve transplanted to the future – you have. It’s here, now. Meet Tally.

Tally is a robot that automates the inventory auditing and analytics process. Created by Simbe Robotics, Tally effortlessly navigates shopping crowds to keep a watchful ‘eye’ on inventory. The robot can determine if any product is out of stock, low on stock, misplaced or mispriced.

Tally came about because most retailers reportedly struggle with inventory. Numerous employees must be staffed to keep the ship sailing smoothly – from stocking sales floor shelves and keeping track of back-stock to gauging sales analytics, running inventory is no easy feat.

According to a study conducted by JDA, as many as 80% of retailers struggle with inventory and have strategic segmentation plans to keep track of products. Giant retailers, like Amazon, must keep track of millions of products. And they do it with robots.

Amazon recently let reporters inside of its new Baltimore warehouse. Instead of seeing swarms of employees filling orders and back-stock, reporters found robots, methodically filing away products. So that’s how the company guarantees two-day shipping every time.

Tally was invented to save retailers inventory costs, while also freeing employees to do more creative tasks. It is both unimaginably boring and slightly less productive to have a human walk aisles endlessly searching for products to replenish. It is costly for the retailer and ultimately unsatisfying for the employee. Tally can do the test while ensuring higher accuracy than human resources, and without complaining.

Simbe Robotics hasn’t disclosed the details of just how Tally works, but in the marketing video it posted on its website, it seems the slender robot manages inventory by scanning store shelves, cross-comparing stored inventory data and updating its findings through an application. The app can be accessed on a tablet and an employee with the program can see what needs to be stocked in real time. It’s genius, really.

Tally was unveiled in November and made a big splash in the retail world. It solves an ongoing problem for retailers. Processing inventory is not just about stocking store shelves. There’s a lot of work that goes into managing products, gauging sales trends, ordering merchandise and more.

Tally helps stores large and small tackle this problem, without breaking the bank or having a significant impact on the workforce. It also optimizes inventory tasks, as all data will be stored in one place – making generating analytical reports easier than ever before.

Simbe Robotics is based in San Francisco, CA and is taking inquiries for sales and pilot deployments. If you haven’t already, check it out. Because before you know it, there could be a Tally in every store near you.