# Restaurant Automation: Using Technology & Robots to Navigate the Labor Shortage By Katherine Pendrill Faced with high operating costs, restaurateurs are constantly looking for ways to reduce overhead while maintaining high-quality food and service. Restaurant automation is becoming a key cost-saving solution, particularly when it comes to keeping labor costs down. Considering labor makes up almost [32% of a restaurant’s operating expenses](/content/blog/restaurant-operating-costs/index.html), automation can reduce costs significantly. In most cases, it means using digital tools, like [restaurant AI applications](/content/blog/ai-restaurant-applications/index.html), to make service industry jobs more satisfying and repetitive tasks more efficient. This guide to restaurant automation will focus primarily on those tools that can help your staff do more with less. You’ll also learn: - What restaurant automation is - Different types of automation in restaurants - 4 ways restaurant automation can reduce labor costs ## **What Is Restaurant Automation?** Restaurant automation involves using technology to complete or aid with the repetitive, manual tasks involved in running a restaurant. Automation can take over or help with things such as counting inventory, sending reservation reminders, or assigning customers to tables, for example. Automated restaurant equipment ranges from online ordering software on a restaurant’s website, to a digital kiosk that customers can use to place orders on-premises, to robots in restaurants completing orders in the kitchen, and anything in between. In a nutshell, restaurant automation frees employees up to focus on tasks that technology can’t take over: primarily customer-facing activities that need a human touch. However, these tools aren’t just nice-to-haves that help reduce operating costs. Automation is more necessary now than ever, when the industry is facing a widespread [restaurant staffing shortage](/content/blog/restaurant-staffing-shortage-report/index.html) that’s making it difficult to find and retain qualified employees. ## **Different Types of Automation in Restaurants** We’ve just given you a preview of the types of automation technology you can find in restaurants today. Here’s a more extensive look at these innovative tools, split up by automated restaurant equipment you can find in the front of the house (FOH) and the back of the house (BOH). ### **Front-of-House Restaurant Automations** FOH automations can help alleviate the workload by letting customers do more of the ordering process themselves, freeing up staff to help out in other areas of the restaurant and focus more on customer service. 1. **Mobile POS** **What it is**: As the hub for every transaction, a POS is arguably the most important piece of technology in a restaurant. This hardware-software combo processes orders and payments, generates reports, sends orders to the kitchen, and so much more. **How it lowers labor costs**: Your POS is a treasure trove of information about your business. Reports help you make data-based decisions that can help you save money. For example, a POS report can help you understand when your restaurant is busiest so you can schedule more staff to work during those times, and fewer employees when there’s less demand. 2. **QR Code Menu** **What it is**: QR code menus are digital menus that customers can view on their smartphones and other mobile devices by scanning a QR code at your restaurant. **How it lowers costs**: When your restaurant’s menu is available digitally, hosts and servers can save a step by not having to make a trip to a guest’s table just to deliver menus. This gives staff more time to engage with guests in meaningful ways. 3. **Customer-Facing Display** **What it is**: A customer-facing display is a digital screen that lets diners see and confirm their orders. **How it lowers costs**: When a customer can verify that their order has been entered correctly into the POS, staff can avoid spending precious time fixing errors. 4. **Self-Ordering Kiosk** **What it is**: Self-ordering kiosks are digital screens that enable customers to place their own orders and pay for them without having to interact with a staff member. **How it lowers costs**: Self-service technology lets you expand your capacity for taking orders without having to hire additional staff to work at your front counter. 5. **Digital Waitlist** **What it is**: With a digital waitlist, walk-in guests can add themselves to a waitlist and check their place in line via their mobile devices. **How it lowers costs**: When guests can add themselves to the waitlist, hosts can spend less time managing the waitlist and more time interacting with customers. ### **Back-of-House Automations in Restaurants** BOH automations can alleviate the workload of kitchen staff and give employees more time to focus on the speed and quality of the food being prepared. 1. **Kitchen Display System** **What it is**: A kitchen display system (KDS) is a digital ticket system for the kitchen. Orders placed into the POS automatically appear on a screen at the proper station in the kitchen. **How it lowers costs**: A kitchen display system eliminates the need for a FOH team member to run physical tickets to the kitchen, optimizing course timing so cooks can work more efficiently during service. 2. **Online Ordering & Delivery Automation** **What it is**: A direct online ordering system enables your restaurant to accept takeout and delivery orders, and process payments for those orders online. **How it lowers costs**: With an integrated online ordering system, there’s no need to manually enter online orders, reducing time-consuming errors. 3. **Inventory System** **What it is**: Inventory software helps keep track of what you have in stock and when you need to reorder it. **How it lowers costs**: Inventory management systems automatically update levels based on what’s been ordered, streamlining operations. 4. **Restaurant Robots** **What it is**: Restaurants are increasingly using robotics in kitchens to automate repetitive tasks. **How it lowers costs**: By letting restaurant robots take care of mindless, repetitive tasks, employees are free to focus on more complex duties. ## **4 Ways Restaurant Automation Can Reduce Labor Costs** ### **1. Improve Employee Training** When tedious and repetitive tasks are automated, employees can spend more time on meaningful training and development. ### **2. Put Simple Tasks on Autopilot** Automation puts simple tasks on autopilot, allowing staff to focus on more complex responsibilities. ### **3. Eliminates Errors** The fewer order errors you have, the less staff you’ll need to spend time fixing issues. ### **4. Improves Turnaround Times** When your team can spend less time taking and preparing orders, your business can get more customers in and out faster. At the end of the day, automation doesn’t mean robots will take over restaurants. Instead, restaurant automation can make work more efficient and satisfying for employees, and help restaurants lower costs while increasing the potential for sales. by Katherine Pendrill Katherine is the Content Marketing Manager at TouchBistro, where she writes about trending topics in food and restaurants.