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Fast Food Chain Adding Automated Kiosks to 1,000 of Its Restaurants in 2017

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posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 02:47 AM
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originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: AdmireTheDistance


A bunch of McDonalds already have those, and have for awhile.



Yes, a "bunch." But not a thousand, soon to be many thousands. Likely within the next 2 to 3 years, not 5 to 10.

...Wendy's is rolling on automation. Won't be long before McDonalds and Burger King jump in with both feet too. Then - no more fast food jobs.

What do you think might happen to all those human workers? Where might they find other jobs?




I've asked that question before, not necessarily of the fast food industry but labor in general. The next 20-30 years will be quite depressing I think unless the world can figure this out. A uniform base income seems to be the only answer because the job pool requiring humans has been and will continue to shrink dramatically while the population keeps growing. I don't know the answer but it's a conundrum for sure.

People who are for early termination of the elderly may want to re-think their position, it may be the only means of employment for many. Picking fruits and vegetables from farms also come to mind. Even though technology and programming seem to be big, pretty soon AI will also do all that thinking and scheming of new ideas and such. Entertainment and eating are the two main things that bring people together.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 02:57 AM
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My kids wanted fast food last night and I let them have it once a week.
We stopped at McDonalds and the teenager behind the register asked three separate times if the order was for here or to go. Not three times consecutively, but three times at various point in the order.
The last time she asked, I was a dick and said "It's still to go, like the other two times that you asked already."
And our governor here in PA wants to raise the minimum wage to 12 bucks an hour.
Go kiosks!



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 03:14 AM
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originally posted by: butcherguy
The last time she asked, I was a dick and said "It's still to go, like the other two times that you asked already."

Did you ever stop to consider she may be having a bad day and is distracted?

Did you at least ask how her day was before being a dick?

Most important, was your order correct?
edit on 1-3-2017 by Vector99 because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 03:23 AM
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a reply to: butcherguy

my " guilty secret " is KFC - when i am on the road and dont have time fore diversions // finding real food

but i digress

on my last foray [ some motorway services in the arse end of england [ south ]

the young lady asked :

is it to eat in ?

reply - no

is it to eat out ?

hag on - i am now wondering what the " 3rd option is "

so - reply - no - just to see what the next question will be

cue parralysis and utter confusion

a supervisor had to be summoned



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 03:39 AM
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originally posted by: ignorant_ape
a supervisor had to be summoned



At In-n-Out, there actually IS a third option - are you eating it in the parking lot. You get a different setup than for taking it home.

I'm all for kiosks as well, though. And I don't know why there isn't a drive thru app that uses the gps to know which drive-thru you're at, and lets you just enter the order and pay for it, skip the microphone and go right for the check out window.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 04:37 AM
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a reply to: Bedlam

Well you don't skip the microphone, but...

HOW DO I PICK UP MY ORDER ONCE I ARRIVE AT THE RESTAURANT?
If you chose "in-store" during the checkout flow, look for the online order pickup sign hanging above the counter. Just skip our line inside, tell us your name, and we should have your meal ready to go.
If you chose the "drive-thru," just pull up to the drive-thru speaker and tell us the name of who placed the online order. We'll quickly pull up your order to verify it with you on the drive-thru screen, and then have it ready when you pull around.

Taco Bell



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 04:42 AM
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originally posted by: Edumakated
This is what happens when you try to force businesses to pay wages higher than what the market demands. In that article, it says each kiosk cost about $15k. If you are a restaurant owner, the return on investment is a no brainer. You could recoup your initial investment in less than a year.


Businesses were going to move to kiosks anyways, it's been in the works for years. It has nothing to do with a push for $15/hour. Even at the current minimum wage, they're much more economical.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 04:51 AM
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originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: soficrow

So future jobs will be skilled jobs in kiosk repair and programming. It should pay much more than a fast food clerk considering kiosks will be a valuable part of the fast food business. Someone has to keep robots and other computer technology running. Moving from an unskilled to a skilled workforce isn't a bad thing.



There's few opportunities in that realm. Repair is just plugging in a diagnostic tool, hitting a couple buttons, and being told which piece of hardware to remove and replace. The kiosks aren't too different from desktop PC's. And that sort of labor is already only around $15/hour, sometimes $10. The programming I'm not too sure about, I know the things they've got at Applebees on each table that basically replaced wait staff (pays bill, calls server, etc... and plays games) were built in Unity. Unity devs typically get about 90k/year (more on the coasts), but the staff that built them is probably only 2-3 people for the entire company.

It's also far from a 1:1 ratio. 1000 stores at 15 people each get replaced by probably 20 technicians, 3 programmers, and 6 management.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 04:58 AM
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a reply to: Aazadan




It's also far from a 1:1 ratio. 1000 stores at 15 people each get replaced by probably 20 technicians, 3 programmers, and 6 management.


There is going to be a lot of useless eaters out there in the near future, in fact it seems the only use for the majority of people will be in the military as cannon fodder.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 05:04 AM
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a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

Burger flipping is far from the only job out there. As a yoot I think I did everything BUT work in a restaurant.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 05:15 AM
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originally posted by: Vector99

originally posted by: butcherguy
The last time she asked, I was a dick and said "It's still to go, like the other two times that you asked already."

Did you ever stop to consider she may be having a bad day and is distracted?

Did you at least ask how her day was before being a dick?

Most important, was your order correct?

She was looking me in the eye each time when she asked the question and I was looking her in the eye when I answered. She even repeated my answer... 'To go' after ther second time that I told her.

As far as me inquiring as to how her day was going, I didn't realize that making trival banter with a teenybopper that is supposed to be paying attention to the customer was a requirement for getting proper service.
Yes, my being a dick amounted to trying to alert her to the fact that she had asked me the same question 3 times when one time would have made me think that she cared about what she was doing.

Yes, the order was right and that is, unfortunately, a rarity.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 05:26 AM
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a reply to: butcherguy

Like I said, you have no idea how that "teenyboppers" day was going. She could have just been screamed at by an unruly customer, or an asshole boss, or dealing with a death in her family, or any number of situations, and while trying to maintain focus on doing her job was mentally distracted by it. She got the order right, so she was paying enough attention to the part that matters.

I guess some people will just look for any fault in a teen at a fast food joint no matter how trivial it is.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 05:51 AM
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originally posted by: Edumakated
This is what happens when you try to force businesses to pay wages higher than what the market demands. In that article, it says each kiosk cost about $15k. If you are a restaurant owner, the return on investment is a no brainer. You could recoup your initial investment in less than a year.

This is the natural progression of technology in society, automation has been on the long march ever since the industrial revolution and has been in the works long before anyone demanded better wages. Maybe you've seen the self-checkouts at big name grocery, big-box, and home improvement stores. It's all part of the same idea, anything that can be made more efficient via automation will be. Given time, everyone will be out of a job.

... and you call yourself edumakated.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 07:16 AM
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originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: butcherguy

Like I said, you have no idea how that "teenyboppers" day was going. She could have just been screamed at by an unruly customer, or an asshole boss, or dealing with a death in her family, or any number of situations, and while trying to maintain focus on doing her job was mentally distracted by it. She got the order right, so she was paying enough attention to the part that matters.

I guess some people will just look for any fault in a teen at a fast food joint no matter how trivial it is.

Honestly, I don't really care how her day was going.
I was a teen at one time, and I know what little causes a 'bad day' for a teen.... next to nothing.
I don't go to a fast food joint to memorialize some teen's problems. I go there for fast service and hopefully they get it right.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 07:20 AM
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a reply to: soficrow

Burger King or McDonalds already have it in Service stations near me in the UK (think KFC had one too), big touch screen panel, just pop in what you want and when your order is ready it appears on a screen above the "bar".

Interesting but we're not at the robots making the food stage yet, so a workforce is still required.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 07:34 AM
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a reply to: soficrow

It also creates jobs. People have to design the kiosks. People participate in the manufacture of the kiosks. People to write the code to program them. People to implement the programming. People to do quality inspection on them. People to oversee the packaging and shipping of them. People to transport them. People to install them. People to train others on their use. People to maintain them. People to repair them. Salespeople to push them on other corporations. People to design upgrades and the process repeats and goes on and on. Not all jobs lost, but different jobs made available.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 07:55 AM
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We've had a Subway for over a year now that has the drive up touch screen kiosk. Keeps all of your combinations on file with a handy code. Seriously, where are the entry level jobs going to be in the future? Everything's going to be automated It's the future.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 08:06 AM
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a reply to: butcherguy
I don't think we should be trying to think of reasons why the people we pay for service cannot pay attention to their job. The manager should take some responsibility for not maintaining an environment of strong work ethic and seriousness/professionalism to the job from the staff who needs that encouragement the most.

I have made the decision since the $15/hr bs started I would not let a single slight go unchallenged. I mean seriously, if it is too much for a youngster to behave somewhat grown at their job, they need to be moved on, especially if it becomes a pattern.

Wendeys has also screwed me before. I once ordered a new sandwich that was specifically with new peppers, and when I got the order it had no peppers and the receipt said no peppers. When I came back inside to have them correct it, I noticed there were some visitors from like their market management team, so I made sure to be vocal since they were watching the orders as they were being filled. One of the ladies try to tell me "oh you asked for no peppers" to which I responded "why the # would I order the brand new sandwich with these peppers if I did not want the peppers? I could have ordered any other sandwich on your menu if I did not want the peppers, what the hell sense does that make??!!"

I got my money back, the right order, and was allowed to keep my original. But seriously, I have had something similar happen to me at Taco Bell. I specifically ordered extra lettuce, paid for it and was on the ticket. Three times in a month I had to have them fix it as they put no lettuce at all! Ridiculous! The third time I blew up on their management, and boycotted that location for one year.

Fast food service has really become # these days.
edit on 3-1-2017 by worldstarcountry because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 08:32 AM
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RE: It also creates jobs.

a reply to: gr8skott


From Aazadan:


originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: soficrow

So future jobs will be skilled jobs in kiosk repair and programming. It should pay much more than a fast food clerk considering kiosks will be a valuable part of the fast food business. Someone has to keep robots and other computer technology running. Moving from an unskilled to a skilled workforce isn't a bad thing.



There's few opportunities in that realm. Repair is just plugging in a diagnostic tool, hitting a couple buttons, and being told which piece of hardware to remove and replace. The kiosks aren't too different from desktop PC's. And that sort of labor is already only around $15/hour, sometimes $10. The programming I'm not too sure about, I know the things they've got at Applebees on each table that basically replaced wait staff (pays bill, calls server, etc... and plays games) were built in Unity. Unity devs typically get about 90k/year (more on the coasts), but the staff that built them is probably only 2-3 people for the entire company.

It's also far from a 1:1 ratio. 1000 stores at 15 people each get replaced by probably 20 technicians, 3 programmers, and 6 management.



posted on Mar, 1 2017 @ 08:58 AM
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First it was self serve gas. Remember the man who used to pump the gas check your oil and wash your windshield. No? That's because they eliminated his job and made gas pumps easy to use with a bank card. Now we don't need that guy. We do his job and pay for the privilege.

Then it was self check out at the grocery stores. Scan your own pay and go. Ok not for everybody but someone used to be paid to do that job. Now it's you doing it and paying to do it.

Wawa already has a screen to take your sandwich order. So does sonic and that you can do from your car.

Better brush off those thinking caps.
The jobs of the future will be intellectual.
Even things farming are industrialized.







 
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