Robots replace waiters in Alibaba鈥檚 restaurant
Print Edition
The little robotic waiter wheels up to the table, raises its glass lid to reveal a steaming plate of local Shanghai-style crayfish and announces in low, mechanical tones, 鈥淓njoy your meal.鈥
The futuristic restaurant concept is the latest initiative in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba鈥檚 push to modernize service and retail in a country where robotics and artificial intelligence are increasingly being integrated into commerce.
Raising efficiency and lowering labor costs are the objectives at Alibaba鈥檚 鈥淩obot.He鈥 diners, where waiters have been replaced by robots about the size of microwave ovens, which roll around the dining room on table-high runways.
鈥淚n Shanghai, a waiter costs up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,500) per month. That鈥檚 hundreds of thousands in cost every year. And two shifts of people are needed,鈥 said Cao Haitao, the Alibaba product manager who developed the concept. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 need two shifts for robots and they are on duty every day.鈥
The diners are attached to Alibaba鈥檚 new Hema chain of semi-automated supermarkets, where grocery shoppers fill their 鈥渃arts鈥 on a mobile app and have the merchandise brought to them at the checkout via conveyor tracks on the ceiling, or delivered straight to their homes. Alibaba now has 57 Hema markets in 13 Chinese cities, all of which will eventually feature the robotic restaurants.
Industry experts say they serve more as showcases of Alibaba鈥檚 tech prowess than a serious business model in a country where labor costs are relatively low.
But the restaurants also typify the rapid adoption of new technology in a country where the government is increasingly using facial-recognition technology to police streets and identify law-breakers.
Automation nation
With digital payments via mobile phone already now rivalling cash for many purchases, growing numbers of pharmacies, bookstores and other retailers have dispensed with cashiers, allowing customers to order and pay for their desired merchandise, which is often handed over by a robot.
Alibaba鈥檚 e-commerce rival JD.com has announced plans to open 1,000 restaurants by 2020 in which food will be prepared and served by robots.
JD.com and others are also working to incorporate airborne drones into their delivery networks.
The movement could help companies reduce costs as growth rates in China鈥檚 e-commerce boom begin to plateau.
鈥淏efore, everyone was all going for rapid expansion. Now the growth is gone and everyone has to focus on improving their operations,鈥 said Jason Ding, a China retail expert with Bain & Company.
鈥淥peration is all about cutting costs and providing better service. So these automated machine technologies, in the right place, can play a role there.鈥
At Robot.He, customers book tables and order entrees via apps, and the diner鈥檚 novelty often draws long queues.
Ma Yiwen, 33, brought nearly a dozen colleagues with her.
鈥淲e are all foodies and we use our lunch time to try good food near our office. The idea of a robot delivering food to our table is very innovative so we wanted to see it ourselves,鈥 she said.
The restaurant says automation helps keep costs down, an additional lure for 20-year-old customer Ma Shenpeng, who comes once a week.
鈥淣ormally for two to three people, a meal costs about 300-400 yuan, but here, all this table of food is just over 100 yuan,鈥 he said.
Chinese AI advocates predict robots will someday perform a range of mundane duties as living standards rise, from delivery to sweeping floors and providing companionship, particularly as China鈥檚 labor force has shrunk due to the recently relaxed one-child policy.
But it鈥檚 a delicate issue for Chinese policy makers due to the potential for human job losses, and the government is in the midst of a long-term push to develop the country鈥檚 services industry partly as a job creator, as manufacturing increasingly becomes mechanized.
Wang Hesheng, a robotics professor at Shanghai鈥檚 Jiao Tong University, said the cost of robots remains too high for widespread consumer use and that many companies were merely jumping on the government鈥檚 high-tech bandwagon.
But robotics could spread if China labor costs continue to grow, he said.
鈥淢aybe when labor costs rise higher and higher, robots will balance out with humans,鈥 he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
