5 ms·

"The tech has been here for more than a decade. Why don't restaurants do this?" I'm in automation, so maybe I can answer this. Small businesses don't have neces

by 6d6b73 10y ago

"The tech has been here for more than a decade. Why don't restaurants do this?" I'm in automation, so maybe I can answer this. Small businesses don't have necessary capital to implement automation solutions. While they know that in a long term this would be good idea, they have a hard time doing it. Large corporations are slower to implement any major change, and sometimes they are limited by contracts they have with their clients. Few times when I proposed automation solution to business doing with the gov, the response was "We have contract that requires us to employ these people. We want to automate but we can't". But once competition automates, all bets are off everyone must automate or perish.

VLM 10y ago
The restaurant business is all about signalling and having the right people doing the right imaginative artisinal ultra-trendy hand labor. Its very much like the prostitution industry or pr0n. None of those are going to automate any time soon.
- funkymike 10y ago
  There's a big difference between McDonald's and a high end restaurant, even if you just order a hamburger. McDonald's has already been working on automation. Have you noticed that humans no longer dispense drinks there? They are also working on getting rid of the human order takers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34T3IkAtOrc&ab_channel=McDonald%27s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34T3IkAtOrc&ab_channel=McDon... For restaurants where one of the main draws is price I think automation is inevitable as a cost saving measure.
  - laughfactory 10y ago
    Agreed. There will probably always be specialty and high end restaurants, where it's more about the experience (in some way). If you want mass produced, a robot is great for that. But they're not so great for limited runs. Which is to say that general purpose robots (for any application) are a long way off. I think we'll adapt as a race, but it'll be mighty uncomfortable for some (say those reliant on low skilled jobs, truck drivers, fast food workers, etc.). It's not to say that the way things will get done will even look the same as the transition occurs. I suspect many things will look different. For instance, rather than speaking your order to a person at McDonald's, you make your selections from a menu and a machine creates it, and then you pick it up and take it back to your table. Redbox already does this for movie rental. Think about how they've changed what we expect of renting movies... Same for home construction, particularly of the cookie cutter variety. Rather than a crew of people going through the motions to excavate a hole, lay a foundation, frame the house, put up drywall, paint, etc., Maybe it'll just be 3D printed with a huge machine (this tech actually exists, if in its infancy). Or maybe we'll switch to brick houses because they make brick laying robots (not humanoid, more like boxes which can move around). The next decade or two will be interesting!
    - anonbanker 10y ago
      Adobe bricks, to give the resultant houses that "artisinal" or "natural" feel.
  - anonbanker 10y ago
    These menu displays are wonderful toys when you get to use them (they're in every McDonald's in my city). Looking through all the menus makes you realize how many things you could do before to customize your order. I usually add extra patties to my burgers, add extra onions/lettuce, and then go to the "free condiments" section and order 5-10 peanut packages. All of which are happily placed on my tray without question, which is the only time I should interact with their employees: when I'm receiving my food.
- michaelbuckbee 10y ago
  I think you're absolutely correct. A good example in the context of this discussion is pizza places with conveyor belt ovens: they take the timing and risk issues out of the hands of their minimum wage workforce. But high end pizza places still don't use them and instead rely on stone / brick / coal pizza ovens instead.

by 6d6b73 10y ago

VLM 10y ago

The restaurant business is all about signalling and having the right people doing the right imaginative artisinal ultra-trendy hand labor. Its very much like the prostitution industry or pr0n. None of those are going to automate any time soon.

funkymike 10y ago
There's a big difference between McDonald's and a high end restaurant, even if you just order a hamburger. McDonald's has already been working on automation. Have you noticed that humans no longer dispense drinks there? They are also working on getting rid of the human order takers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34T3IkAtOrc&ab_channel=McDonald%27s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34T3IkAtOrc&ab_channel=McDon... For restaurants where one of the main draws is price I think automation is inevitable as a cost saving measure.
- laughfactory 10y ago
  Agreed. There will probably always be specialty and high end restaurants, where it's more about the experience (in some way). If you want mass produced, a robot is great for that. But they're not so great for limited runs. Which is to say that general purpose robots (for any application) are a long way off. I think we'll adapt as a race, but it'll be mighty uncomfortable for some (say those reliant on low skilled jobs, truck drivers, fast food workers, etc.). It's not to say that the way things will get done will even look the same as the transition occurs. I suspect many things will look different. For instance, rather than speaking your order to a person at McDonald's, you make your selections from a menu and a machine creates it, and then you pick it up and take it back to your table. Redbox already does this for movie rental. Think about how they've changed what we expect of renting movies... Same for home construction, particularly of the cookie cutter variety. Rather than a crew of people going through the motions to excavate a hole, lay a foundation, frame the house, put up drywall, paint, etc., Maybe it'll just be 3D printed with a huge machine (this tech actually exists, if in its infancy). Or maybe we'll switch to brick houses because they make brick laying robots (not humanoid, more like boxes which can move around). The next decade or two will be interesting!
  - anonbanker 10y ago
    Adobe bricks, to give the resultant houses that "artisinal" or "natural" feel.
- anonbanker 10y ago
  These menu displays are wonderful toys when you get to use them (they're in every McDonald's in my city). Looking through all the menus makes you realize how many things you could do before to customize your order. I usually add extra patties to my burgers, add extra onions/lettuce, and then go to the "free condiments" section and order 5-10 peanut packages. All of which are happily placed on my tray without question, which is the only time I should interact with their employees: when I'm receiving my food.
michaelbuckbee 10y ago
I think you're absolutely correct. A good example in the context of this discussion is pizza places with conveyor belt ovens: they take the timing and risk issues out of the hands of their minimum wage workforce. But high end pizza places still don't use them and instead rely on stone / brick / coal pizza ovens instead.