Walmart looks to drones to speed up distribution

Bentonville, Arkansas

SOON, the labyrinthine aisles at Walmart's distribution centres - stocked high with canned beans, toys and many other products - could also have a low humming sound.

Walmart, the largest US retailer, is testing the use of flying drones to handle inventory at its large warehouses, which supply to the thousands of Walmart stores throughout the US. In six to nine months, the company said, the machines may be used in one or more of its distribution centres.

At a demonstration on Thursday at a dry goods distribution centre here, a drone moved up and down an aisle packed nearly to the ceiling with boxes, taking 30 images per second. Shekar Natarajan, vice-president of last mile and emerging science, explained that the machines could help catalogue in as little as a day what now takes e…