With a seemingly endless line of talking-heads willing to ignore essentially every study that has been undertaken with regard the effects of raising the minimum-wage; and propose what is merely populist vote-getting 'benefits' for the ever-increasing not-1% who benefitted from Ben Bernnake's bubbles - we thought the following burger-flipping robot was a perfect example of unintended consequences for the fast food industry's workers. With humans needing to take breaks, have at least 4 weekend days off per month, and demanding ever-increasing minimum-wage for a job that was never meant to provide a 'living-wage', Momentum Machines - a San Francisco-based robotics company has unveiled the 'Smart Restaurants' machine which is capable of making ~360 'customized' gourmet burgers per hour without the aid of a human. First Jamba Juice, then Applebees, next McDonalds...Link is here.
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Unions have learned nothing from what has happened to the UAW.
ReplyDeleteUnions are basically thugs and thugs are resistant to the message that their days of coercing what they haven't earned are over.
ReplyDeleteUnions also have no back-up plan. When they can no longer twist arms they've got nothing to offer so they have no other course but throw their wooden shoes into the weaving machines*.
With regard to those burger-flipping machines, I'm not that impressed.
They almost certainly require an integrated solution in which burgers, buns and condiments arrive in robot-suitable packaging in order to work. Their up-front costs thus must include all that customization.
Also, if the machines require much in the way of remodeling of the stores their costs are driven up again and what may keep the current generation of food-industry robotics largely relegated to Youtube videos is the mundane consideration of floor space.
Next time you're in a burger joint look at how tightly-packed the place is. Square footage is at a premium so a machine that drives up floor space requirements may simply be economically untenable despite the reduction of labor promised. It may require a fully-integrated robotic restaurant to take advantage of the technological solution and I don't see that happening for a while.
I don't want a burger flipped by a machine; I want a talented human chef to cook my food. I can't even eat fast food anymore, even when it's sort of cooked by people. Wasn't Burger King's distinction that their burgers were flame grilled? They used to be, but now they are pulled from a steam tray and nuked... And, the living wage argument is so asinine ... most people who work in fast food (certainly not all) are not doing it for their sole income. Most are young adults, still living/benefitting from their parents. It's not meant to be your lifetime avocation. I favor unionization, but I'm not sure how much more they could get than they already do...
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