Robot chicken is not a dance, it's a big business strategy

이재림 입력 2023. 1. 31. 18:44 수정 2023. 1. 31. 19:50
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"You need to shake up the basket once in a while so that the crispiness is distributed evenly," said the 31-year-old store manager. "But when we're busy, it's hard for the workers to pay attention to each order. Robots, however, follow the manual exactly."

"A total of 72,000 bowls of noodles were cooked by the chefbot last year," a spokesperson for the CJ Foodville said. "Workers were hesitant to perform the tasks due to the heat, such as boiling the ingredients and pouring the hot broth over the noodles, but the task efficiency has increased by replacing them with robots."

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In terms of robotics, big Korean companies are moving from a focus on the industrial to service robots, where machines are taking over in the kitchen and at restaurants and at any place where humans can be swapped out of their customer-facing...
A chicken-frying robot performs its tasks at a Kyochon Chicken store in Dasan, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 25. [YONHAP]

In terms of robotics, big Korean companies are moving from a focus on the industrial to service robots, where machines are taking over in the kitchen and at restaurants and at any place where humans can be swapped out of their customer-facing roles.

Doosan Robotics is making machines that can fry chickens, make coffee and stack patties for hamburgers.

One such robot can be seen at Robert Chicken’s Songpa branch in southern Seoul, where customers visiting the store can see a robotic arm that receives orders from delivery apps and cooks up the chickens while a store manager wraps up the chicken-to-go.

The arm expertly dips the pounded chicken pieces into the vat of hot oil — six minutes for the boneless chicken, and nine minute and 30 seconds for chicken with bones — then they’re out, not even missing a second more or less. The secret behind the taste is to shake the container occasionally while it fries.

“You need to shake up the basket once in a while so that the crispiness is distributed evenly,” said the 31-year-old store manager. “But when we’re busy, it’s hard for the workers to pay attention to each order. Robots, however, follow the manual exactly.”

In six months since its opening, then Songpa branch’s robot has cooked over 8,500 birds. On average, 50 chickens per day.

The manager works with the robot from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on weekdays and 12 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on the weekends. If he hires a part-time worker, an extra 2.72 million won ($2,210) of monthly wage based on minimum wage of 9,620 won, is spent. With the chicken-frying robot made by Doosan Robotics, the manager only has to pay 1.2 million won for three years to lease the machine.

“I can’t even imagine what it would be like to work alone without a robot now,” he said.

Supply and demand for robots to perform daily human labor are on the rise as not only tech startups and small-and-middle merchandises, but big companies, accept the inevitable.

The global market size for service robots have expanded by 44.52 percent to $43.5 billion in 2022 from $30.1 billion in 2020, according to data from Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information. By 2026, the market is expected to grow to 103.3 billion won.

LG CLOi, LG Electronic's "chefbot," cooks the rice noodles at restaurant franchise Vips Premier branch in Deungchon branch, western Seoul. [PARK HAE-LEE]

Doosan Robotics plan to offer a F&B robot series in the first half of this year that can make coffee and stack up patties for hamburgers. The soon-to-be-offered robots are expected to be exported overseas as the technology was certified by the U.S. National Sanitation Foundation (NSF).

LG Electronics has been showing interest in service robots since the 2010s. The company started testing robot guides situated at Incheon International Airport in 2017. In 2019, it started working with CJ Foodville to introduce “chefbot” which can be seen cooking up the rice noodles the Vips Premier's Deungchon branch.

“A total of 72,000 bowls of noodles were cooked by the chefbot last year,” a spokesperson for the CJ Foodville said. “Workers were hesitant to perform the tasks due to the heat, such as boiling the ingredients and pouring the hot broth over the noodles, but the task efficiency has increased by replacing them with robots.”

LG Electronics has been supplying robots performing a variety of services at hospitals, hotels and restaurants.

“Domestic service robots have shown an annual growth rate of 42 percent over the last three years,” the company said in the fourth quarter earnings report on Friday. “We are preparing to launch unmanned automatic robots suitable for each field of service.”

Sometime this year, Samsung Electronics will release the “EX1,” a robot to assist the elderly exercise.

“We are planning to continue to invest in our robot division as means to propel our new growth model,” said Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee at CES 2023 in Las Vegas earlier this month. “We will primarily release robots which will assist senior care.”

Telecommunications companies are working other companies to develop their service robot series.

KT is expanding its business not only in selling robots, but also to installation, consultation and network management based on its self-developed robot integration platform.

SK Telecom is working with Doosan Robotics, while LG U+ is working with LG Electronics to develop its robot businesses.

SK Telecom recently introduced an unmanned serviceable robot that makes coffee, the “AI Barista Robot,” on Thursday. LG U+ announced it will work with LG Electronics to develop and create robotic platforms for artificial intelligence and 24/7 monitoring based on the latter’s “CLOi” robot back in September.

BY PARK HAE-LEE, LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]

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