Lowe's

•  Lowe's, one of the biggest retailers in the United States, is one example of a company that has utilized machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence, in improving its inventory management. In 2016, it rolled out LoweBots to 11 of its stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.

• The LoweBots are 5-inch high, bilingual, autonomous retail robots that not only assist customers but produce real-time data as well. They create this data by leveraging both machine learning and computer vision in scanning inventory and identifying patterns in price or product discrepancies, and determining items that require restocking.
• Equipped with laser-based sensors and a searchable computer display, they have store navigation and advanced voice recognition capabilities.
• Lowe's designed the LoweBot to free up its employees' time for more productive and complex tasks, and to improve the experience of its customers.
• The LoweBot was a product of Lowe's Innovation Labs. It appears products at this laboratory are rolled out to a small fraction of customers once they achieve a success rate of around 95% internally.
• This particular application of artificial intelligence in inventory management has also been identified by one article as one of "the 20 best examples of use of AI for retail experiences."

Walgreens

• Walgreens is also using AI to identify regions that require more inventories of anti-viral products and other flu-related products.
• Walgreens leverages the troves of anti-viral prescription data it has across its network of over 8,000 locations.

Summary of Early Findings

• There appears to be plenty of information on the application of AI and/or machine learning in inventory or supply chain management.
• Providing three case studies of companies that have successfully used AI and/or machine learning to improve their inventory or supply chain management processes appears feasible.
• Providing related trends, statistics, challenges, and potential use cases appears feasible as well.