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Puff piece -- the idea of cooking pizzas in a truck is a good one, but the whole 'robotics' angle is a little trite. The only automated part seemed to be the sa

Puff piece -- the idea of cooking pizzas in a truck is a good one, but the whole 'robotics' angle is a little trite. The only automated part seemed to be the sauce (which Costco does) and moving the pizza to the oven. I like the moving-pizza-truck idea, it's a shame this had to go the route of 'robotic pizzeria' since it's so blatantly a puff piece.

bizzleDawg 10y ago
The idea of cooking on the road is great, but those wire conveyer racks that they're cooking on look like a nightmare to clean. I suspect cleaning all of those ovens will not be automatable for now either. on a different note, mini pizza ovens seem to be the best part of this startup, seems as though it could be a great product when combined with 'artisinal robot made' frozen pizza.
- Fricken 10y ago
  It seems unnessecarily complex having 56 separate ovens. Why not just one oven, that the driver loads up between deliveries? Am I missing something?
  - daxelrod 10y ago
    It looks like the individual ovens allow them to cook each pizza for a precise amount of time: At precisely 3 minutes and 15 seconds before arriving at the customer's location, the cloud commands the oven to turn on and--" Garden made the symbol of a large explosion emanating from his brain-- "BOOM, the customer gets a fresh, out-the-oven pizza delivered to their door." I'm guessing this was less complex than trying to move pizzas in and out of a larger oven in a moving vehicle.
    - ams6110 10y ago
      Baking pizza in a moving vehicle doesn't seem feasible to me. The sauce, cheese, etc. in a 600 degree oven are like soup. Turn the corner or need to make any kind of a rapid stop and it will all slosh to one side and ruin the pie.
      - daxelrod 10y ago
        They do some prebaking of the pies before they enter the truck, so I'm wondering if the truck ovens don't get that hot.
ma2rten 10y ago
I think they said they are planning to automate the other parts as well.
TheMagicHorsey 10y ago
You beat me to it. I agree. I think this article is actually more interesting because it shows you something about how a good tech PR strategy works. Bloomberg undoubtedly saw, on-site, how ridiculous the robotics narrative was, but they went with it anyways, because it makes for a more viral story. This kind of PR is a collaborative effort and win-win. If you have a tech startup you should really think about the narrative before you call in press. Think about what the audience wants from a story, and sell that. The goal of PR is to get your company noticed ... so long as you don't turn off genuine customers, you can actually go pretty far away from reality before the average user picks up on the fact that the story is mostly bullshit. I think they should have kept the CEO out of this video. He comes across as a bit too much of a shuckster. A CTO type would have been a better type. Also, instead of positioning the business as increased profit, he should have presented the reduction in labor costs as savings for the customer. That always makes a better story. The CEO's brain probably doesn't work that way, but the PR firm he hired should have given him that tip.
- colinplamondon 10y ago
  This is national media, for a local business - the audience of this is 100% investors, for the round they mention raising.
nickpsecurity 10y ago
Plus they keep forgetting that people are cheaper robots. A VC our family knows designed in 90's SmartMart: a convenience store that was totally automated. You order at fuel-pump looking Kiosks, robots pull it from stock, and machine delivers it to your car as you pay. To think grocers brag about mere self-checkouts. Unfortunately, the SmartMarts cost around $10 mil versus about $1 mil for stores underpaying & overworking humans. It folded.
- anonbanker 10y ago
  Anecdotal evidence from 20+ years ago seems like the common argument against Virtual Reality, as well. Technology got better, and cheaper. That puts previously-unattainable goals within reach. Would you argue that a $15/hour McDonald's employee will be cost-competitive with a Big Mac machine nowadays?
  - nickpsecurity 10y ago
    Depends on cost of a machine. Plus, McDonalds is a weak even if common example. Many companies push employees go focus on good service or at least sales (esp upselling). Computers still arent as good at that with a good chunk of customers rejecting them outright in such uses. Far as machines, depends on how cost of installation, maintenance, and licensing vs humans it replaces. Varies case by case.
    - anonbanker 10y ago
      McDonald's was used as an example due to their work at automating their franchises, and their comments about increasing this to full automation due to the $15 minimum wage[0]. The bigger point (and the dirty secret of globalism) is that nobody can really afford labor, especially multinationals. 0. http://www.inquisitr.com/1594675/mcdonalds-counters-minimum-wage-hike-15-automation/ http://www.inquisitr.com/1594675/mcdonalds-counters-minimum-...
      - nickpsecurity 10y ago
Keats 10y ago
Pizza trucks are very common in my hometown (south of France) so it's not really something new either.

bizzleDawg 10y ago

The idea of cooking on the road is great, but those wire conveyer racks that they're cooking on look like a nightmare to clean. I suspect cleaning all of those ovens will not be automatable for now either. on a different note, mini pizza ovens seem to be the best part of this startup, seems as though it could be a great product when combined with 'artisinal robot made' frozen pizza.

Fricken 10y ago
It seems unnessecarily complex having 56 separate ovens. Why not just one oven, that the driver loads up between deliveries? Am I missing something?
- daxelrod 10y ago
  It looks like the individual ovens allow them to cook each pizza for a precise amount of time: At precisely 3 minutes and 15 seconds before arriving at the customer's location, the cloud commands the oven to turn on and--" Garden made the symbol of a large explosion emanating from his brain-- "BOOM, the customer gets a fresh, out-the-oven pizza delivered to their door." I'm guessing this was less complex than trying to move pizzas in and out of a larger oven in a moving vehicle.
  - ams6110 10y ago
    Baking pizza in a moving vehicle doesn't seem feasible to me. The sauce, cheese, etc. in a 600 degree oven are like soup. Turn the corner or need to make any kind of a rapid stop and it will all slosh to one side and ruin the pie.
    - daxelrod 10y ago
      They do some prebaking of the pies before they enter the truck, so I'm wondering if the truck ovens don't get that hot.

ma2rten 10y ago

I think they said they are planning to automate the other parts as well.

TheMagicHorsey 10y ago

You beat me to it. I agree. I think this article is actually more interesting because it shows you something about how a good tech PR strategy works. Bloomberg undoubtedly saw, on-site, how ridiculous the robotics narrative was, but they went with it anyways, because it makes for a more viral story. This kind of PR is a collaborative effort and win-win. If you have a tech startup you should really think about the narrative before you call in press. Think about what the audience wants from a story, and sell that. The goal of PR is to get your company noticed ... so long as you don't turn off genuine customers, you can actually go pretty far away from reality before the average user picks up on the fact that the story is mostly bullshit. I think they should have kept the CEO out of this video. He comes across as a bit too much of a shuckster. A CTO type would have been a better type. Also, instead of positioning the business as increased profit, he should have presented the reduction in labor costs as savings for the customer. That always makes a better story. The CEO's brain probably doesn't work that way, but the PR firm he hired should have given him that tip.

colinplamondon 10y ago
This is national media, for a local business - the audience of this is 100% investors, for the round they mention raising.

nickpsecurity 10y ago

Plus they keep forgetting that people are cheaper robots. A VC our family knows designed in 90's SmartMart: a convenience store that was totally automated. You order at fuel-pump looking Kiosks, robots pull it from stock, and machine delivers it to your car as you pay. To think grocers brag about mere self-checkouts. Unfortunately, the SmartMarts cost around $10 mil versus about $1 mil for stores underpaying & overworking humans. It folded.

anonbanker 10y ago
Anecdotal evidence from 20+ years ago seems like the common argument against Virtual Reality, as well. Technology got better, and cheaper. That puts previously-unattainable goals within reach. Would you argue that a $15/hour McDonald's employee will be cost-competitive with a Big Mac machine nowadays?
- nickpsecurity 10y ago
  Depends on cost of a machine. Plus, McDonalds is a weak even if common example. Many companies push employees go focus on good service or at least sales (esp upselling). Computers still arent as good at that with a good chunk of customers rejecting them outright in such uses. Far as machines, depends on how cost of installation, maintenance, and licensing vs humans it replaces. Varies case by case.
  - anonbanker 10y ago
    McDonald's was used as an example due to their work at automating their franchises, and their comments about increasing this to full automation due to the $15 minimum wage[0]. The bigger point (and the dirty secret of globalism) is that nobody can really afford labor, especially multinationals. 0. http://www.inquisitr.com/1594675/mcdonalds-counters-minimum-wage-hike-15-automation/ http://www.inquisitr.com/1594675/mcdonalds-counters-minimum-...
    - nickpsecurity 10y ago

Keats 10y ago

Pizza trucks are very common in my hometown (south of France) so it's not really something new either.