Retailing With Confidence: How Busy Beaver Uses Automation to Improve Store Operations

Join Mike Graen for his conversation with Adam Gunnet, Director of IT and Business Intelligence at Busy Beaver Building Centers, and Bob Ferraro, Sales Manager at Badger Technologies, as they explore how one regional home improvement chain is using robotic automation to solve real-world retail challenges.

What began as a post-pandemic need to ease the burden on store associates quickly turned into a powerful operational transformation. By deploying Badger’s autonomous robots, Busy Beaver replaced time-consuming manual audits with real-time shelf scanning—unlocking gains in accuracy, productivity, and customer service.

In this discussion, you’ll hear how they:

• Automated tedious tasks like out-of-stock scanning and price audits
• Enabled overnight, full-store scans that deliver actionable daily task lists
• Freed up associates to focus on helping customers, not scanning shelves
• Improved on-shelf availability and pricing accuracy across categories
• Leveraged data to support forecasting, shrink control, and supplier collaboration
• Used the robot’s presence as both a shopper engagement tool and theft deterrent
• Positioned robotics as a scalable solution—even for single-store operators

Whether you’re a home improvement retailer, IT leader, or retail technology partner, this conversation will change how you think about automation—not as a replacement for people, but as a practical teammate that helps stores run smarter and serve customers better.

About Busy Beaver Building Centers
Busy Beaver is a regional home improvement retailer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Serving DIYers, weekend warriors, and commercial customers since 1962, Busy Beaver is known for its legendary customer service, project expertise, and growing footprint across the Northeast.

https://www.busybeaver.com

About Badger Technologies (A Product of Jabil)
Badger Technologies provides autonomous retail robots that enhance inventory visibility, pricing accuracy, and shelf compliance. Powered by advanced computer vision and RFID, Badger robots help retailers optimize store operations, reduce shrink, and improve customer satisfaction—safely and efficiently.

https://www.badger-technologies.com

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