Seattle Restaurant’s Robot Can Bust Out 500 Orders an Hour

Technology eventually permeates almost every facet of the workplace. Sometimes it results in human elimination. But in the food service industry, the progress is being heavily sped up by labor costs, faster than most current businesses.

  Seattle restaurant debuts another robot salad maker

Not every business can afford robotic tech when it comes to preparing food. But in Seattle, according to Geekwire, multiple restaurants in this chain have robots...making salads.

Sweetgarden is a chain that has 230 locations across the US, including Seattle, but only 8 of them have the new robot tech.

According to Geekwire:

"The worker — a large stainless steel and glass device called “Infinite Kitchen” — is Sweetgreen’s answer to food automation. And it’s got plenty of human helpers in the restaurant at the corner of 11th Avenue and East Pine Street that opened on Tuesday."

It can churn out 500 orders an hour. Customers can order a variety of salads, or protein bowls or other dishes either on the app or from automated touch screens in the facility. Then, the robot takes over:

"When an order is submitted, it’s sent directly to the Infinite Kitchen. A human worker places the proper container for the order in the proper slot on a “smart track” that moves the bowl through the system. Along the way, more than 40 tubes dispense ingredients into the container, depending on the specifics of the order."

Workers are responsible for keeping all the supplies well-stocked, and they also can add additional special order touches at the end of the assembly. They also can address any potential issues--for example, if the salad is not mixed to the customer's liking.

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  But the bulk of the tedious work is handled by the robot. The restaurant still employs 22 people, officials did not say how many workers this robot replaced. But it's certainly an example of how rising labor costs are speeding up tech faster than we can imagine.

Most of us know why automated ordering kiosks are in McDonalds and some other fast-food chains. If an establishment can 'replace' even 1 or 2 workers, that's a long-term savings that will help them down the road.