Management By George (Jetson): Automation In Foodservice – Total Food Service (registration)

Joe Ferri

Our reliance on automation creeps into every area of business, not only into communications. You must keep in mind, however, that current technology cannot replace leadership (and probably wont either, at least for the near future). We humans can and should augment our abilities with the latest available tech, making use of its time-saving and productivity components. Similarly, we must update our own skillsets regularly, if only to just keep pace with the advances ofthe automation in foodservice.

Robots, artificial intelligence (A.I.), and the internet of things (IOT) are all coming to a foodservice operation near you. Being a master of, and not a slave to, these initiatives ought to be the goal of everyone, especially managers and would-be managers. Automation in our industry will be redefining all our roles from here on out.

Presently, we cant rely upon any of these tools for all but the most rote tasks, although there are plenty of those that can be disrupted, thus driving out inefficiencies.

So, what is it that we humans will be doing? Overseeing burger-flipping droids? Scheduling fry-bots? Programming autonomous delivery vehicles? Cleaning up the mess when one of these goes astray? Yes, absolutely, sure and you-betcha!

Were already doing some of this right now.Much of our world has defaulted to the self-service mode, due in part to the constant barrage of apps being introduced. Integrating people with systems represents the biggest challenge to our industry.

Forces at play, including the rising minimum wage, health insurance uncertainties, and a plethora of unfunded government mandates have conspired to make the foodservice industry ripe for automation. Add to these, our reliance on mobile devices, a shrinking pool of willing available talent, and shifting traffic patterns, and you have the perfect storm for disruption.

Managing all of it will fall upon those who have mastered the latest techniques, intuitively knowing which buttons to push, and which tasks to delegate.The alternative to getting ahead of the changes lying ahead: Will there be a robot managing you?

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Management By George (Jetson): Automation In Foodservice - Total Food Service (registration)