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I suspect Uber will actually beat McDonald's to automation. I tried to find any evidence that McDonald's in trying to automate their restaurants, and all I coul

by vosper 11y ago

I suspect Uber will actually beat McDonald's to automation. I tried to find any evidence that McDonald's in trying to automate their restaurants, and all I could find was a joke news article.

petra 11y ago
Looking at mcdonnalds doing automation is just one avenue restaurant automation will happen.It's just as likely that some other company/startup will lead, for example momentum machines' burger robot(assuming not vaporware) or eatsa's restaurant model.
tommoor 11y ago
They already have machines that take your order through a touchscreen in some McDonalds... that's half the jobs gone in one swoop!
smackfu 11y ago
One thing they do now is put the drive-in order-taker off-site at a call center. I guess not so recent, considering this article is from 2006: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/11/technology/11fast.html?pag&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/11/technology/11fast.html?pag...
- ascagnel_ 11y ago
  This could be something worth fully automating -- they have a limited number of options on the menu, and a less-limited but still defined number of permutations on those options. That problem space may be small enough for converting text-to-speech. The downside is that you'd still have to have someone on-call to try to rework any order statements the system has a low reliability score on.
  - GFischer 11y ago
    I don't understand why they don't have an app yet for ordering (at the drive-in and maybe delivery too). The combination of app-based ordering and drive-through delivery is one I strongly believe to be underutilized.
jonknee 11y ago
McDonalds definitely invests in automation, but the goal isn't to replace humans entirely. Uber also has much higher marginal labor costs than McDonalds does and would benefit a lot more from automation. Examples of automation at McDonalds: Self serve order kiosks http://www.businessinsider.com/what-self-serve-kiosks-at-mcdonalds-mean-for-cashiers-2015-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/what-self-serve-kiosks-at-mcd... Automated beverage dispensers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26g3YqAsfA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26g3YqAsfA Digital menu boards that update based on conditions http://www.eater.com/2015/11/11/9716058/mcdonalds-weather-menu-boards http://www.eater.com/2015/11/11/9716058/mcdonalds-weather-me... And then of course all the tech in their kitchen that take out all the guesswork (timed friers and the like).
jib 11y ago
Uber gets to use a massive amount of physical assets without any investment in those assets. I imagine their future with automation is the same. No way they want to buy their own fleets of cars, they will just let you lend them your car when you don't use it. Maybe (surely) there will be a squeeze on fees, but automation should move the income from active to semi passive for car owners.

by vosper 11y ago

I suspect Uber will actually beat McDonald's to automation. I tried to find any evidence that McDonald's in trying to automate their restaurants, and all I could find was a joke news article.

petra 11y ago

Looking at mcdonnalds doing automation is just one avenue restaurant automation will happen.It's just as likely that some other company/startup will lead, for example momentum machines' burger robot(assuming not vaporware) or eatsa's restaurant model.

tommoor 11y ago

They already have machines that take your order through a touchscreen in some McDonalds... that's half the jobs gone in one swoop!

smackfu 11y ago

One thing they do now is put the drive-in order-taker off-site at a call center. I guess not so recent, considering this article is from 2006: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/11/technology/11fast.html?pag&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/11/technology/11fast.html?pag...

ascagnel_ 11y ago
This could be something worth fully automating -- they have a limited number of options on the menu, and a less-limited but still defined number of permutations on those options. That problem space may be small enough for converting text-to-speech. The downside is that you'd still have to have someone on-call to try to rework any order statements the system has a low reliability score on.
- GFischer 11y ago
  I don't understand why they don't have an app yet for ordering (at the drive-in and maybe delivery too). The combination of app-based ordering and drive-through delivery is one I strongly believe to be underutilized.

jonknee 11y ago

McDonalds definitely invests in automation, but the goal isn't to replace humans entirely. Uber also has much higher marginal labor costs than McDonalds does and would benefit a lot more from automation. Examples of automation at McDonalds: Self serve order kiosks http://www.businessinsider.com/what-self-serve-kiosks-at-mcdonalds-mean-for-cashiers-2015-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/what-self-serve-kiosks-at-mcd... Automated beverage dispensers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26g3YqAsfA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26g3YqAsfA Digital menu boards that update based on conditions http://www.eater.com/2015/11/11/9716058/mcdonalds-weather-menu-boards http://www.eater.com/2015/11/11/9716058/mcdonalds-weather-me... And then of course all the tech in their kitchen that take out all the guesswork (timed friers and the like).

jib 11y ago

Uber gets to use a massive amount of physical assets without any investment in those assets. I imagine their future with automation is the same. No way they want to buy their own fleets of cars, they will just let you lend them your car when you don't use it. Maybe (surely) there will be a squeeze on fees, but automation should move the income from active to semi passive for car owners.