Self-service coming to fast-food chains

[TexasStooge]

Soon, you'll be ordering Big Macs without ever talking to a human

By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News

GRAPEVINE, Texas – The cashier at your favorite fast-food joint may be replaced soon by an order-taking kiosk.

But don't worry. It's been programmed to ask, 'Do you want fries with that?'

Ending years of flirtation, the fast-food industry finally appears ready to take the plunge into self-service ordering with kiosks, some restaurant technology experts say.

Taking a page from banks and airlines, major chains including McDonald's, Burger King and Subway are field-testing machines that allow consumers to order and pay for their meals without any human contact.

None of the companies has announced a systemwide launch. Still, experts say the growing use of self-service at the grocer and the gas pump has chains thinking more seriously of joining the do-it-yourself generation.

"I think you'll see the initiation of ... a rollout next year," said Jerry Leeman, food service and hospitality manager for IBM.

Mr. Leeman was one of more than 2,000 restaurant industry professionals and techies in Grapevine this week for the 10th annual International Foodservice Technology Exposition, which ended Wednesday.

He and others see a fast-food industry that is facing a staffing crunch. At the same time, consumers are becoming less tolerant of time-wasting queues.

Enter the obelisk.

The touch-screens on the kiosks now being tested are almost identical to the display terminals used by workers behind the counters. With them, people can browse menus with multilingual text and eye-popping color graphics and touch a box to select the items and quantity wanted.

Nearly all of the models in test accept credit and gift cards. More sophisticated ones add debit cards, and the most elaborate – and expensive – also take cash.

After paying, the customer collects a receipt, and the order is sent electronically to the kitchen. The receipt is then exchanged for food at the counter.

Vendors say the machines can shave minutes off a transaction time – the fast-food equivalent of finding the Holy Grail.

Robert Grimes, whose Accuvia food-service consulting firm is co-hosting the trade show, said the 10 companies promoting kiosks this year represent a 50 percent increase from last year – a measure of the growing restaurant interest.

Georgia-based NCR, known historically as a cash register company, is likely the current leader in fast-food kiosks, Mr. Grimes said.

NCR is doing "controlled deployment" of kiosks and has about 60 of them running at franchised McDonald's locations in cities including Houston, Orlando and Denver, said Peter Charpentier, product manager in the NCR retail solutions division.

He and other tech vendors see the benefits of self-service as clear.

It shortens the customer wait and improves order accuracy because it removes the language barrier (an NCR machine can include up to 26 languages). Plus, it is programmed to always suggest that the consumer buy something else (called up-selling), which means higher check averages.

On one kiosk model, the "large drink and fries" option virtually bursts out of the screen in 3-D fashion, while the other options are static.

The technology's most obvious savings would be labor costs.

But the vendors were careful to use terms such as "labor redeployment" and "repositioning" when talking about the kiosk's ability to cut crews.

"They can have more labor in the kitchen and less labor up front," said Mr. Charpentier, of NCR.

Labor is a growing concern for an industry that predicts it will need 1.8 million more workers by 2015.

By comparison, health care, which often pays more, will need 3.5 million more workers in that same time span, said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president for research at the National Restaurant Association.

"Consequently, the competition for workers will become more intense," said Mr. Riehle. "So you can see that operators will be turning to technology to fill the labor gap."

For some operators, that raises questions about balancing high-tech with the warm, inviting high-touch image the industry has worked hard to create.

"Hospitality is not a robot; it's people," Jeff Sinelli, founder and chief executive of the Dallas-based Which Wich sandwich chain, said at a panel discussion Tuesday.

His chain already automates the food-ordering process. Customers use a Sharpie pen to mark their choices on a brown bag in which the sandwich is ultimately delivered.

After the session, Mr. Sinelli acknowledged that he's looking at purchasing a system that would allow for automated plastic payments.

"That's what the business is going toward," he said. "We will never replace people totally. We're trying to make it the most efficient system and possibly reduce the number of people needed to run a Which Wich."

He also spoke of the cost of a kiosk, which, for some of the higher-end models, can rival a year's salary.

IBM's Anyplace Kiosk, a wall-mountable, touch-screen version with the CPU built in, costs about $2,500.

Machines that handle cash can cost up to $18,000 per unit, said NCR's Mr. Charpentier.

Others see that as a fraction of the cost of a worker over time, without concerns about sick days and paying overtime.

And they worry little about customer acceptance, given that fast food's target market – hungry young males – is filled with technophiles.

"I believe we've finally reached the tipping point where this will work," said Paul R. Monahan III, president and chief executive of San Diego-based EMN8, a kiosk maker.

He, too, predicted rapid deployment of fast-food kiosks next year and added: "Consumers are more ready than ever to serve themselves."

[GalvestonDuck]

Wonder how clean they'll be, how fresh they'll be, and if you can have it your way?

*quacks off, singing* "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don't upset us."

[arkess7]

I dont think i like that idea........what if the computer crashes?

and i also think it takes away jobs.....which we dont need anymore of that!!! a lot of teenagers get there 1st job at fast food places and also alot of adults start out then go to management...........so IMO I dont think its that great of an idea...

[Vandora]

What about power outtages? If no one generally does the job, they won't know how to do it when there's no computer. Hrm. I don't know. I enjoy the self-checkout lines at the grocery store, and being able to pay at the pump, but I'm not sure I'm too happy about this.

I'm not sure it'd be faster. I mean, have you ever been behind someone at the self-checkout lane in the grocery store, who can't seem to get it working right? Some people can't even push buttons right, they go brain-dead at the thought. Come on, we've all seen them.

It seems so cold and impersonal.

[Skywatch_NC]

Same here...not a good idea.

Eric

[vbhoutex]

Can't argue with any of th enegative sentiments above. Not necessarily against it, but not necessarily for it.

[wx247]

Can't argue with any of th enegative sentiments above. Not necessarily against it, but not necessarily for it.

You and me both. I don't know what to think. I have opinions on both sides.