SoftBank Robotics America and Direct Supply have deepened their partnership to deploy autonomous floor care robots in senior living communities, with nearly 100 facilities now using over 100 robots daily. The collaboration, which began with Direct Supply becoming an official partner in March 2025, has scaled into a repeatable enterprise model focused on operational efficiency rather than technology for its own sake.
What the partnership does
The program integrates SoftBank's autonomous floor care robots — which use computer vision and machine learning — with Direct Supply's logistics and procurement expertise. The robots handle routine cleaning tasks such as vacuuming hallways, freeing staff to focus on higher-impact resident services. Direct Supply provides training, support, and operational guidance tailored to senior living environments.
Case study: Sabra Health Care REIT
Sabra Health Care REIT, a real estate investment trust in the senior living space, has implemented the robotic program across its communities. According to Peter Nyland, EVP of Asset Management at Sabra, the goal is to reallocate staff time from manual floor care to more valuable resident interactions. "We want our staff spending their time doing the most impactful things… and vacuuming hallways isn't one of them," Nyland said in a statement. The program has enabled staff reallocation and improved resident experiences, though specific metrics on time savings or cost reduction were not disclosed.
Why this matters for senior living
Senior living communities face labor shortages, rising variable costs, and increasing quality standards. The partnership aims to address these pressures by providing a turnkey automation solution that doesn't require operators to become robotics experts. Justin Smith, Senior Manager of Innovation at Direct Supply, emphasized that the program solves real operational problems: "Robotics in senior living can't be about technology for technology's sake. It has to solve real problems for operators, staff, and residents."
How it works
SoftBank Robotics America acts as a "robot integrator" — a role the company has developed since launching its humanoid robot Pepper in 2014. The company expanded into autonomous cleaning robots in 2018, multi-tray delivery robots in 2021, and logistics consulting in 2022. For the senior living program, SoftBank handles deployment, service, and optimization, while Direct Supply manages customer relationships and industry-specific training.
Tradeoffs
The program is currently limited to floor care automation. SoftBank Robotics America President and GM Brady Watkins noted that the partnership provides "a solid foundation for Direct Supply's customers that are on an automation journey which will leverage multiple robotic solutions to transform operations." This suggests future expansion into other robotic tasks, but no timeline or specific additional robot types have been announced.
Bottom line
The SoftBank-Direct Supply partnership demonstrates a practical, incremental approach to automation in a labor-constrained industry. Rather than promising full facility automation, it targets a specific, repetitive task — floor cleaning — and provides the operational support needed to make it work at scale. For senior living operators evaluating robotics, this model offers a lower-risk entry point than building in-house automation programs from scratch.