At VivaTech, the Knext barista robot is causing a stir. As well as refreshing visitors with talent, it could offer an answer to the labor shortage in the hotel and restaurant industry.
Specializing in automation, the German group SAR has developed a fully automated barista, called “Knext”, which can be deployed over an area of 8 m² and can serve several customers at the same time. At VivaTech, we discovered this amazing two-armed robot, which in addition to intrigued visitors, helped to refresh them.
Knext, the timely barista robot
Knext does not lack qualities, moreover more highlighted while fire falls on our heads almost everywhere in France. The graceful Knext can also serve you coffee, tea and other barista specialties, with plenty to do since the counter that hosts it can store several hundred items. Autonomous and able to operate continuously throughout the day, the barista robot is the result of several years of development.
Harald H. Rohrmoser, head of the robotic solutions branch for the hotel and catering industry of the German SAR group, tells us that the machine’s mass production will start ” by the beginning of 2023 “, with a larger scale marketing in the wake therefore, Knext being already available in particular for rental.
If it will be limited only to Germany at first, the system will be gradually deployed in the rest of Europe. This is the promise – and the ambition – of the company.
Easy installation and customization
The whole point of Knext lies in its customization. Each company, restaurant, bar or hotel that wishes to equip itself with the robot has control over what it manufactures: the owner of an Italian espresso bar, for example, will be able to perfectly align the products they already offer to their customers with those of the robot. The offer associated with the robot is therefore fully modular, so that it becomes imbued with the identity of its owner.
Once installed (it does not take more than one or two days, therefore an absolutely considerable time saving), the robot and its 8 m² of surface can take service and ensure the orders of three customers simultaneously, who will be able to claim up to to four products each.
And if your barista robot does not work where it was installed: no problem. Harald H. Rohrmoser explains that his users have the possibility “ to move it, to change its location », always in one or two days.
Faced with the problems (shortage of employees, rising costs and others) suffered by players in the world of catering and hotels, Knext promises not to want to get rid of experienced servers, but only to ” fill the void left by the pandemic and then the recovery. Everyone will have their own opinion on this last point.
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