Japan’s robot chefs aim to show how far automation can go
Japan’s robot chefs aim to show how far automation can go
Machines replacing humans in country’s hospitality sector
to meet staff shortfalls
Head chef: robot Andrew flips a pancake in the Henn-na
restaurant at the Huis Ten Bosch amusement park in Sasebo, Nagasaki © The Asahi
Shimbun/Getty Images
by: Kana Inagaki January 31, 2017
Machines across the world already make sushi, noodles and
pizzas. Now a Japanese amusement park has taken a leap of faith by creating a
restaurant with more robots than human workers.
A robot with arms prepares okonomiyaki — savoury pancakes
— while another makes cocktails or doughnuts in front of customers at a
Dutch-themed resort in Sasebo in south-west Japan.
In addition to cooking, an android arrives at diners’
tables with a reminder 10 minutes before their hour-long buffet is up. This is
an act that could be irritating if performed by a human waiter, but can prove
entertaining when performed by a robot.
The experimental robotic chefs at the Huis Ten Bosch
theme park are not just a gimmick to draw tourists. They are part of a project
— funded with $265,000 in Japanese government money — designed to examine which
kitchen and food processes should be automated and which left to humans.
Japan is home to many world leaders in factory automation
including Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric and the country’s prime minister Shinzo
Abe is betting on robotic innovation to revive the country’s struggling
services industry by 2020, in time for the tourist boost that the Summer
Olympics is expected to provide.
Government estimates show that while the services sector
accounts for about 70 per cent of Japan’s economic output, labour productivity
is 40 per cent lower than that of the US. Low productivity has made it
difficult for restaurants to raise the wages of workers, putting strains on a
sector already struggling to cope with Japan’s chronic labour shortage.
To address the tight labour market, convenience store
operators such as Lawson have turned to temporary workers from outside Japan
while restaurants and fast-food chains such as McDonald’s are cutting back on
the number of 24-hour outlets. But economists say these are only temporary
measures and that the country will need to accept more immigrants or make
further technological advances in robots.
Even in Japan, experts say there could be barriers to how
robots are used
An aggressive target set by Mr Abe envisages Japan
growing the size of its domestic market for robots in the non-manufacturing
sector to ¥1.2tn ($10.6bn) in 2020 from ¥60bn now.
At Huis Ten Bosch, there are 30 robots — most of them
supplied by Japanese manufacturers including Yaskawa and Toyo Riki — supported
by seven employees to operate the restaurant which has more than 100 seats. The
company says sales have risen as a result of robots attracting more customers
while labour efficiency has been boosted by using machines to improve
turnaround times at tables.
Still, Ikki Nakahira, the Huis Ten Bosch manager who came
up with the robot chef concept, says the automation technology is not advanced
enough to operate the restaurant with robots alone, as was initially
envisioned.
Employees must often help out when robots fail to flip
the pancakes correctly, and the ingredients to be used in the pancakes, such as
cabbage, need to be prepared by humans. For now, the robots’ clumsy movements
are part of the fun, but the company says more sophistication is required
before the jobs can be fully performed by machines. “We are not necessarily
using cutting-edge robotics technology. But the key is to be able to use the
robots on a stable basis even if the technology is slightly old,” says Mr
Nakahira.
“Robotics technology is advancing rapidly, so the
challenge and the fun part is to constantly make changes in partnership with
robot manufacturers.”
Huis Ten Bosch plans to set up a separate unit later this
year to work with manufacturers to make robots similar to those that have been
used at the park’s restaurants and hotels, which it can sell to similar
attractions.
Despite the push by Mr Abe, Japanese restaurants have
been slow to adopt automation, even for simple tasks such as collecting or
washing dishes, while interest in robots in the kitchens has been rising in
places such as Silicon Valley and China.
In the US, San Francisco-based start-up Momentum Machines
has developed a robot that can autonomously produce 400 burgers in an hour,
carrying out the work of three humans. At another restaurant in the Bay Area
called Eatsa, customers can buy and collect quinoa-based vegetarian takeaway
meals using tablet ordering devices and vending machines. The process requires
no interaction with humans although people behind the scenes help prepare the
food.
Even in Japan — a country where robots are often
portrayed as friendly companions in films and animations — experts say there
could be a psychological barrier to bringing robots into restaurants and
hotels, where personal interaction and hospitality are valued.
According to a survey carried out last March by
Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting, respondents were almost evenly divided
over whether they would use hotels where the receptionist was a robot. In
contrast, 40 per cent of respondents said they did not mind robots carrying out
cleaning and other tasks not visible to the customer, compared with 17 per cent
who were against the use of machines for such roles.
While automation may create fears of job losses, Rebecca
Chesney, researcher at the Institute for the Future, a California-based
think-tank, says more robotics will probably be introduced in the sector if
people can appreciate their benefits. “We have a choice in how we implement
some of these technologies in our food systems,” she says.
“We tend to think about machines replacing humans but we
are also going to see new ways technologies are going to enhance our lives.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2017. All rights
reserved.
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