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Five Ways Robot Waiters Are Helping F&B Businesses

Updated: Dec 18, 2021

Today, we see robots increasingly in our everyday lives, from cleaning robots in homes and offices, cooking and waiter robots in restaurants, and defence robots used by the military to safeguard our homeland. We can't deny that robots have indeed made a difference in how we live, work and play. In this article, we will share five ways robot waiters have contributed to F&B businesses.


1. Overcome Manpower Shortage

Despite offering higher pay, F&B businesses in Singapore have struggled with manpower shortages since the pandemic. A finding by the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) tells us that many restaurants are understaffed by 20% to 30%. Singaporeans are shunning F&B jobs because of the long hours and physical demands. And the tightened border controls exacerbated the situation by limiting foreigners from entering Singapore. This is where robot waiters come in to fill the gap by assisting humans in greeting customers (KettyBot), sending food from the kitchen to the customers' tables (PuduBot) and sending empty plates to the washing area (HolaBot). With constrained resources, "hiring" robots is an alternative to reducing the workload of existing servers in your restaurant.


2. Boost Productivity

On average, human waiters make hundreds of trips from the kitchen to the customers' tables, which takes up 4 to 6 hours daily. With robot waiters, these tasks can be automated, and human waiters get to focus on more important tasks such as greeting and serving customers and taking care of cashier counters. With more time on hand, human waiters feel happier naturally and provide better service to diners. On average, the hiring of a waiter robot helps our customers increase productivity by 20%. Check out this case study of our customer Shin Minori to see how they have successfully hired "Loco and Loca" to streamline their restaurant operations.


3. Reduce Workplace Accidents

Workplace injuries caused by slips, trips and falls in the F&B industry have risen by an average of 12% a year from 2016 to 2019. And these accidents are more likely to occur due to wet or slippery surfaces and near steps. With robot waiters assisting human waiters in sending dishes from the kitchen to the customers' tables, workplace injuries can be reduced significantly. For business owners, a safe workplace means higher productivity. And a healthy workforce means lesser time lost due to sick leave, leading to happier employees and better staff retention (The Straits Times).


4. Reduce cost

The average pay for a human waiter in Singapore is estimated at S$31,680 per year, which works out to be around S$2,640 per month. As per Paysales.com, a waiter robot draws S$15,031-30,913 annually, which works out to be S$1,252-2,576 per month. Since Singaporeans are shunning lower-paid jobs, restauranteurs have to resort to hiring foreigners. With the foreign worker levy fee, that will be a salary of around S$2,000 per month. The emphasis is not on replacing humans with robot waiters but on using technology to tackle manpower constraints. Besides, hiring a robot waiter helps reduce costs as it's economically cheaper in the long term. Also, with robot waiters, workplace injuries will be reduced significantly, meaning lower costs from insurance premium hikes due to injury claims.


5. Refine Customer Experience

The key to customer satisfaction is great customer service. With our fully autonomous service robots, you can trust them for the best customer experience, from greeting customers to serving food accurately with no errors. Built with artificial intelligence, our robot waiters are programmed to work alongside humans and interact with diners. They take care of the mundane tasks, enabling human waiters in delivering the best customer service to diners.


Service robots are no longer a marketing gimmick to attract diners into a restaurant; they are here to reshape the dining experience. As per Statista, the sales value of new robot installations in the global F&B industry is expected to reach US$523 million in 2022. If you are still considering the effectiveness of robot waiters, book a trial to see how our robot waiters can be deployed efficiently at your restaurant.


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