Over at Amazon, their Dash Smart Shelf is featured in their deals of the day listings, with each size discounted to $11.99.
I have never heard of the Amazon Dash Smart Shelf, and so I took a closer look.
The Dash Smart Shelf actually sounds to be a neat concept, and I found myself wondering: who could use something like this, and where?
There are 3 sizes:
- Small Dash Smart Shelf
- 7″ x 7″
- 30 lbs max weight capacity
- Medium Dash Smart Shelf
- 12″ x 10″
- 60 lbs max weight capacity
- Large Dash Smart Shelf
- 18″ x 13″
- 200 lbs max weight capacity
Basically, you set up the Amazon Dash Smart Shelf to hold a specific consumable-type product. When supplies get low, the Dash automatically replenishes it with a reorder.
Let’s say a bottle of juice weighs one pound. Twenty bottles weigh twenty pounds. The Dash Smart Shelf is essentially a smart scale that regularly weighs the product and extrapolates how many you have left.
There is an AC adapter available, but the built-in batteries are said to last 2+ years.
You don’t have to opt for automatic reorders – Amazon also allows you to simply set it up for automatic notifications when you are running low on something.
The idea is that with the Amazon Dash Smart Shelf, you should never run out of everyday items.
Each Dash Smart Shelf can only be paired with one product at a time. Amazon also says that lighter items might require multiple quantity reorders.
The smartphone screenshots shows that you can set the reorder thresholds in terms of a percentage, such as when quantities dip below 20% of the “total order weight.”
In theory, this sounds like a neat idea. But is it useful?
I suppose it could help with managing supplies of critical items. Have you ever run out of certain supplies at your home or work, where this could have prevented that?
My mind keeps defaulting to automotive and professional paint shops, which might have to keep a certain number of mixing cups on hand. Could something like this help to decrease the number of extra cartons of mixing cups? But shops like that might not operate on an on-demand supply replenishment basis.
What if Amazon runs out of something when you need an on-demand resupply?
What if Amazon doesn’t have the best price?
What if Amazon simply doesn’t carry what you need?
This tech could be very useful depending on where it’s applied, if not for reordering supplies then for automatic notifications.
Consider tire pressure monitoring systems. Even if your tires cannot self-adjust their own air pressure, low pressure warnings are absolutely very useful.
These are on sale for $12/each for all 3 sizes, which seems quite good for a smart scale with built-in battery.
However, you’re limited to pairing the Dash Smart Scale with different products.
I could use something like this for tracking my own weight, or the weight of potted plants or seedlings to ensure adequate watering frequency.
The usage examples seem reasonable, but the smart scales also take up a whole lot of space. I never needed something like this for reordering diapers. I need to head to the warehouse club to pick up a couple of cases of 1-liter water bottles. I suppose that would be a useful use of a shelf like this, or I could continue buying a couple of cases every month or two.
Is this something you could use? Would use? How?
Buy Now via Amazon (All Size Options)
