How much bar automation is too much? There are some super cool products out there which leave one in no doubt about the benefits of bar automation. One cool product we’ve come across recently is the Barmate Infinite. This star of the recent WA AHA show developed by BlendBow is at the cutting edge of fully automated cocktail machines. This nifty machine cuts lemons, crushes ice, measures out all of the ingredients and blends or shakes the mixture … all in one surprisingly compact benchtop appliance.
The Barmate Infinite is easy to use, cocktail recipes are created in an admin interface, staff fill the machine’s compartments with mint, ice cubes and lemons and the bottles are installed on the top. When an order is placed staff use the machine’s touch screen to select the right cocktail. The glass or shaker is placed in the machine and, hey presto, the cocktail is ready. The machine even cleans itself. Seriously, right?
What do machines like this mean for the future of your business? What about how it changes the way we understand work? Bar automation solutions make us wonder whether another valuable work role is being swept away by the tide of technology. Will humanity lose another knowledge area and hand it into the keeping of the machines?
Multiple surveys show that most young people fear the inevitable onslaught of automation and have complex feelings about how automation will impact their future. Is this fear justified? At what point do businesses go too far with automation? These are good questions to keep asking but there is nothing to fear, technological advances are a good thing for your hospitality business.
Technology is a tool, a deeply valuable tool in the high-volume, low-margin hospitality industry. Yes, it’s likely bar automation won’t stop with clever machines like the Barmate Infinite. Changes in work roles like this seem scary but it’s up to us to make a positive paradigm shift as the world changes. Us clever, adaptive humans will survive as roles become redundant because new work roles will open up, roles that most likely don’t exist today. The phenomena of changing work roles isn’t new, it’s been happening for centuries and we’re all still here. Anyway, it’s doubtful bartenders will disappear, artisan bartenders will start popping up all over, with customers happy to fork over a premium for drinks prepared by the hands of a beverage savant.
Automated solutions like the Barmate Infinite represent the best type of automation, automation that works with your staff to produce consistent, high quality cocktails while eliminating waste and increasing your overall profits. It is just the right amount of automation, where your staff are still in control as they interact with customers while delivering drinks in an efficient, fast and wonderful way.