Restaurants are a surprisingly poor candidate for automation.
First, most of the big restaurant companies that actually have the resources for automation operate with a franchising based business model. McDonalds makes money leasing real estate, not serving burgers. The costs of labor are borne by the franchisees who aren't really in a position to pay for the significant development costs. Independent restaurants are in an even worse position as far as automation goes.
Next, restaurant employees tend to do a large number of tasks. You may refer to someone as a fry cook, but they're also grabbing stuff from the freezer, scrubbing equipment down, mopping up spills, washing dishes, helping unload the truck, etc. This doesn't mean there's no value in automating any particular task, but a robotic arm isn't going to get you out of your labor shortage problem. Automating enough tasks to actually eliminate the need for someone is tough, especially when many of these tasks are customer facing, as such tasks are especially difficult to automate and may result in backlash.
Third, restaurants are extremely unlikely to employ people with the appropriate skillset for implementing and, of critical importance, maintaining automation infrastructure. Even if the bulk of the work is done by an automation integrator, you need someone to do periodic adjustments and troubleshoot day to day issues. It's not especially difficult, but it is skilled labor. You're not going to pay for a $20k training session for a 17 year old going off to college in a few months.
Finally, many of the best selling points for automation are of no value for restaurants. A manufacturing company would love to have its machines run overnight making them money instead of sitting idle; a restaurant though doesn't make any money when customers aren't coming in. Automation is great for consistent production rates, but restaurants have extreme fluctuations in demand both over the course of the day and from one day to the next. The value of most companies is tied directly to their productivity, and thus anything that increases productivity makes the company more valuable, but most of the value of a restaurant is in its brand and location - a line out the door of waiting customers is a good thing for a restaurant.
There is substantial opportunity for automation in the larger food industry. The factories which produce the ingredients for restaurants have some amazing automation (if you want to be simultaneously impressed and a little offput, look up automated chicken deboning). The restaurant business model just isn't made for it. If we do ever see automated restaurants, I would bet good money they are designed from the ground up to be automated, rather than converting existing restaurants over. We'd likely think of them more as overgrown vending machines than restaurants.
>> McDonalds makes money leasing real estate, not serving burgers. The costs of labor are borne by the franchisees who aren't really in a position to pay for the significant development costs.
Therein lies the opportunity for McDonalds - license the automated kitchen to the franchisees on a subscription basis thus making it affordable (easier to substitute against labor) and creating a new revenue stream.
>> If we do ever see automated restaurants, I would bet good money they are designed from the ground up to be automated,
McDonalds already licenses their kitchen to franchisees. Increased automation increases the upfront cost of this kitchen without increasing revenue. While some franchisees might like the idea of less reliance on labor and be willing to pay a premium, McDonalds corporate wants to keep the upfront costs of starting a franchise as low as possible.
While certainly the interface might resemble an Automat, when I say designed to be automated, I mean their business model is designed for automation. Dark kitchens, for example, could potentially benefit from automation far more than conventional restaurants.
First, most of the big restaurant companies that actually have the resources for automation operate with a franchising based business model. McDonalds makes money leasing real estate, not serving burgers. The costs of labor are borne by the franchisees who aren't really in a position to pay for the significant development costs. Independent restaurants are in an even worse position as far as automation goes.
Next, restaurant employees tend to do a large number of tasks. You may refer to someone as a fry cook, but they're also grabbing stuff from the freezer, scrubbing equipment down, mopping up spills, washing dishes, helping unload the truck, etc. This doesn't mean there's no value in automating any particular task, but a robotic arm isn't going to get you out of your labor shortage problem. Automating enough tasks to actually eliminate the need for someone is tough, especially when many of these tasks are customer facing, as such tasks are especially difficult to automate and may result in backlash.
Third, restaurants are extremely unlikely to employ people with the appropriate skillset for implementing and, of critical importance, maintaining automation infrastructure. Even if the bulk of the work is done by an automation integrator, you need someone to do periodic adjustments and troubleshoot day to day issues. It's not especially difficult, but it is skilled labor. You're not going to pay for a $20k training session for a 17 year old going off to college in a few months.
Finally, many of the best selling points for automation are of no value for restaurants. A manufacturing company would love to have its machines run overnight making them money instead of sitting idle; a restaurant though doesn't make any money when customers aren't coming in. Automation is great for consistent production rates, but restaurants have extreme fluctuations in demand both over the course of the day and from one day to the next. The value of most companies is tied directly to their productivity, and thus anything that increases productivity makes the company more valuable, but most of the value of a restaurant is in its brand and location - a line out the door of waiting customers is a good thing for a restaurant.
There is substantial opportunity for automation in the larger food industry. The factories which produce the ingredients for restaurants have some amazing automation (if you want to be simultaneously impressed and a little offput, look up automated chicken deboning). The restaurant business model just isn't made for it. If we do ever see automated restaurants, I would bet good money they are designed from the ground up to be automated, rather than converting existing restaurants over. We'd likely think of them more as overgrown vending machines than restaurants.