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Automation Nation

automation nation

In 2017, futurists declared “the era of human-centered design is coming to an end…the next user you design for will be a human-machine hybrid…people and computers can be more effective working in tandem.”[1] Fast forward just 3 years and it appears to have already come true. Analysts are describing the global pandemic as “an overnight plunge…the beginning of a human-machine partnership,”[2] a world where “every interaction has a digital foundation”.[3] Simply put “whatever the new normal looks like after COVID, there is going to be more automation.”[4] Consider these signs:

Preparing for a more automated food and beverage industry will undoubtedly require further investment, e.g. the machines themselves, reassessing packaging to ensure it holds up at new touchpoints (drone or robotic delivery) rethinking service areas (human vs. machine), and digital ordering and payment systems. We also believe it’s an opportunity to redirect the energy machines free up to our mutually favorite subjects: products, customers and building our brands.

Thinking about investing in robotic technology or vending? Here are links to some of the companies we came across in our discovery:


[1] “The Next User You Design For Won’t Be A Human”, Fast Company, 11/20/17
[2] “Marketing to Machines and Augmented Humans”, Inside the Brand, 4/02/20
[3] “Digital Life IRL”, Datassentials Foodbytes: 2020 Trends
[4] “John Piorkowski, Johns Hopkins University
[5] “Social Distancing Enforcement Drones Arrive in the U.S.”, New York Magazine, 4/08/20
[6] “The Scramble for Delivery Robots is On and Startups Can Barely Keep Up”, WSJ, 4/25/20
[7] “4 restaurant tech predictions for 2020”, Nation’s Restaurant News, 12/10/19
[8] “Macco Robotics New “DBot” Modular Restaurant Robot Delivers Food and Disinfects’, The Spoon, 5/18/20
[9] “Walmart testing robot for prepared food work”, Supermarket Perimeter, 12/12/018
[10] “Chowbotics CEO Rick Wilmer combines robotics with fresh food”, Nation’s Restaurant News, 1/22/20
[11] “How coronavirus could accelerate retailers’ robot deployments”, Modern Retail, 4/15/20
[12] “Robots show value in feed efficiency, reduced labor”, Farm Progress, 4/24/20
[13] “Grocery stores turn to robots during the coronavirus”, CNN, 4/07/20
[14] “60 Minutes shows Amazon’s virus-killing robot: says company uses AI to enforce social distancing”, Geekwire, 5/10/20
[15] “Mitsubishi produces new cobot”, Dairy Reporter, 5/28/20
[16] “74 Million Consumer Robots Expected in 5 Years”, Mediapost, 8/21/19
[17] “How Farmer’s Fridge’s healthy vending machines fuel frontline hospital workers”, Bloomberg, 4/15/20
[18] “Kansas City BBQ offers takeout via vending machine, Kansas City Business Journal, 4/14/20
[19] “Hotspots: April 2020 Top Trends & Observations”, Mintel, 4/29/20
[20] “Publix Goes Contactless”, Progressive Grocer, 4/03/20
[21] “4 restaurant tech predictions for 2020”, Nation’s Restaurant News, 12/10/19 and “Digital Life IRL”, Datassential’s Foodbytes: 2020 Trends

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