Robots help Sedano’s Supermarket gather your groceries fast

By Lisa J. Huriash, South Florida Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale

via Bellingham Herald (WA) - February 10, 2019

MIAMI

The robotic system is on a roll, summoning a plastic bin stocked with your Cheerios. Next, the string beans you asked for go on the assembly line.

The machine tells a worker how much of each item he needs to bag.

This new system at Sedano's Supermarket fills online orders lightning fast — 60 items in five minutes or less. And that speediness is Sedano's strategy to cater to rushed customers who don't have the time — or desire — to walk the aisles themselves.

Sedano's is among a growing number of supermarket chains using new technology to make shopping even more convenient while also competing with e-commerce titan Amazon.com. Experts say the super-competitive nature of supermarkets means grocers have to find new ways to provide groceries as fast and cheaply as possible.

"It's a symphony of chaos," Javier Herran, Sedano's chief marketing officer, says of how efficiently the machines run. "Rather than a person fill your order and go to a shelf, this machine brings the shelf to you."

Nearly half of the Sedano's supermarkets in South Florida have benefited so far from the behind-the-scenes robotics, which are warehoused in a private, 11,000-square-foot area of a Sedano's at 14655 SW 56th St. in Miami.

SHOPPING WITH EASE ...

OVERCOMING HURDLES ...

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE ...

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https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/business/article226060115.html