Miso Robotics' New Automated Beverage Dispenser

Miso Robotics announced its partnership with Lancer Worldwide – a global beverage dispenser manufacturer trusted by the world's top food and beverage brands – to build an intelligence backed, automated beverage dispenser that will bring enhanced functionality for a future-focused commercial kitchen.

Speed of Service Matters

At a time when the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry is facing record labor shortages, operators are looking for ways to streamline operations, cut costs and implement solutions that drive a better and faster customer service experience. The pandemic drastically shifted the paradigm, creating new models for operator revenue streams that relied on drive-thru, takeout and delivery more so than ever before. While 60-70% of certain QSR sales came from the drive-thru lane pre-pandemic, as COVID spread, major QSRs experienced a jump as high as 90%, according to Bluedot: State of What Feeds Us Report.  Yet, the new delivery and drive-thru model have made the always-critical need of speed and efficiency an even bigger challenge as volume increases and staff decreases have added minutes to the clock for order completion. Because of this, total average drive-thru times slowed down by 29.8 seconds last year, according to 2020 SeeLevel HX Annual Drive-Thru Study. 

Savvy operators are warming up to the power of automation and robotics to accelerate recovery and meet demand. Miso Robotics has been in the field in commercial kitchen automation through a robot-as-a-service (RaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) model that began with Flippy and has since branched out to CookRight. While these two flagship products focus on food specifically, implementation success has proven broader back of house tasks can benefit from intelligent operational efficiency. Miso Robotics and Lancer saw the need for beverage automation in the commercial kitchen –  an area of order completion that has long been plagued with inefficiency as workers look to navigate compact, fast paced kitchens and unpredictable order volume during shifts.

The new automated beverage dispenser will integrate with the POS system and come equipped with a guided workflow for employees to ensure accurate order completion synced with driver and customer arrival times. The machine will be able to automatically pour drinks and advance beverages to enable an easy grab-and-go format for staff. When an order comes in, the connected approach will allow the beverage dispenser to 'know' the beverage needs associated with the order and will automatically issue the appropriate sized cup, begin pouring and seal the drink. The entire process is timed to complete as close as possible with the time the meal/remainder of the order is ready for hand off to the customer or delivery driver.