Problem
Restaurants are some of the most hectic workplaces. Between servers running food and drinks between tables, workers bussing tables and bringing empty plates to the kitchen, the host seating more customers as they come in, and all of the chaos that happens in the kitchen preparing the food, it can be difficult to keep up with all of the different things going on. Not to mention, many restaurants have found themselves understaffed in recent years, leaving them without the hands needed to keep up with customers.
At Arirang K, a Korean barbeque restaurant in Johns Creek, Georgia, servers have even more difficult tasks than at other kinds of restaurants. Typically, Korean barbeque involves many small plates that can be very hot when servers bring them out. The restaurant was looking for a robotic solution that could help ease this burden on servers.
Solution
LG Business Solutions USA’s CLOi ServeBot is a robotic assistant that can help waitstaff by accompanying them to guests’ tables while carrying multiple dishes at once. This frees up servers’ hands and makes it so they only have to touch hot plates while transferring them to the table.
The ServeBots have three shelves that can each hold up to 8.2 kgs (22 lbs). The robots automatically follow commands to travel to specific tables or back to the kitchen so that kitchen and wait staff can load and unload food from its shelves. They can operate for up to 11 hours on a single charge and can be programmed for various floor plans.
“We’ve been serving gourmet Korean barbecue and sushi for just over three years now, and we are always looking for ways to improve the guest experience and provide better service without increasing costs,” Miok Kim, general manager of Arirang K, said in a release. “LG is one of South Korea’s most respected technology companies, so we were excited about the chance to try out their brand-new robot. Its cutting-edge sensors and programming accurately deliver food to customers and assist wait staff by reducing kitchen runs. Everybody liked the first two so much that we upgraded to four LG ServeBots to maximize service levels and guarantee that every customer gets to see the robots in action. The customer experience is also very important to us, and having the ServeBots move around the restaurant is a new and exciting experience for virtually all our customers.”
Results
Arirang K currently has four LG ClOi ServeBots working alongside its servers. Management at the restaurant has found that the robots have boosted both server efficiency and customer relations.
“If you’ve ever been in a restaurant with Korean dishes, you know there’s often a lot of plates on the table, so I was definitely excited about using the LG ServeBots just because there are so many things to carry,” Taylor Robinson, a server at Arirang K, said in a release. “The main dishes that come out are mostly hot and can be dangerous, so the LG ServeBots are able to help us by bringing those dishes out, and all we have to do is hand it off at the table. They take a lot off my shoulders, literally off my hands. I’m able to meet the customer at the table and hand the food off without any problems. Not to mention that customers just like seeing the robots in general, especially kids, who get really excited about them.”
In addition to the weight it takes off of servers, the robots have become an attraction of their own, bringing more attention to the restaurant. Management at Arirang K has seen an increase in mentions of the restaurant on social media since bringing the robots in.
“The LG CLOi ServeBot is already delivering major benefits for customers and workers at Arirang K, and it’s perfectly positioned to elevate experiences and efficiency in retail stores and hotels as well,” Jeffrey Weiland, B2B robotics team leader at LG Business Solutions USA, said in a release.
