USA- Fast casual restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill has revealed it is in the testing phase of two innovative solutions: the Autocado (an avocado-processing collaborative robot) and Augmented Makeline (an automated assembly line for making salads and bowls).
The Autocado prototype cuts, cores and peels avocados before workers mash them for guacamole. The prototype can peel and seed an avocado within 26 seconds and is not size sensitive.
The cobot is being tested at an outlet at 20972 Magnolia St. in Huntington Beach, California.
The Augmented Makeline uses automation to build salads and bowls for customers on an assembly line placed beneath the typical meal prep area.
The assembly line is being tested at the Corona del Mar, California store (3050 East Coast Highway).
The fast casual chain revealed it was partially inspired to invest in the assembly line because 65% of all its digital orders are salads or bowls.
Chipotle revealed that the cobot device and assembly line will help enhance efficiency and free employees from other tasks.
The assembly line, for example, will free up employees to make more complicated orders that require folding or wrapping tortillas like tacos, burritos and quesadillas.
Overall, the innovations are meant to help the chain build a more robust operational engine that provides an optimum experience for employees and customers through reducing wait time. Chipotle also revealed they are designed to maintain the high culinary standards of the chain.
The chain also revealed it partnered with two tech companies for the innovations- Vebu for the Autocado and Hyphen helped create its new Augmented Makeline.
The two technological innovations were developed through Cultivate Next, a US$100 million venture capital fund meant for future growth.
Curt Garne, Chipotle’s Chief Technology Officer, praised the testing phase by saying, “These cobotic devices could help us build a stronger operational engine that delivers a great experience for our team members and our guests while maintaining Chipotle’s high culinary standards.”
The QSR chain revealed its plans to incorporate customer and employee feedback to optimize the systems as the next step in the stage-gate process before a pilot rollout is announced.
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