Appliance Design - September 2007 - (Page 31) COMMERCIAL APPLIANCES McDonald’s chose LonWorks technology to network its restaurant kitchen equipment in order to create the “kitchen of the future.” The UniLinc controller on UniMac equipment can help manage laundry units. In addition, the programmable water levels assist in conserving water. At the 2007 NRA trade show, the Prodigy and three other pieces of Enodis equipment won Kitchen Innovation Awards. Despite this success, Caron says the company decided it needed to do more to reach a higher level of innovation. Restaurant chains were approaching Enodis asking for ways to cut energy costs, reduce footprint and improve speed of service. These were all issues that required more than a single component or strategy to solve. System-wide solutions were needed and the company is working on ways to combine technologies and unite food, equipment and people into what Caron calls “three circles” of integration. This includes networking and standardizing equipment. To improve service times and improve quality, Enodis changed its equipment interfaces, which are primarily touch-screen technology, so that they are the same across its products brands. This makes training easier and, eventually, food quality more consistent. At its technology center, the researchers have worked on ways to reduce footprints, and maximize time and motion in the kitchen. “We are about to announce new concepts that will allow our customers to maintain the same capacity with half of the kitchen size,” Caron says. “Some of our customers are looking to move into different venues, such as airports, where space is limited. For other markets, this can mean more seating for their customers.” Food to go Speed of service is important to most restaurant and foodservice operations. For The Automated Express Mart units from AVT gives hotel customers the convenience of having charges billed directly to their room bill through a touch screen to vend PIN technology so guests do not have to carry cash or coin to make purchases. www.applianceDESIGN.com quick service restaurants, moving customers through the queue is especially important. On average, Caron says that by attaining a 6second improvement in the drive through can equate to 1 percent increase in revenue. “That is pretty serious business,” he says. “We are looking to find how to save a few seconds at the workstation.” McDonalds Corp. of Oak Brook, Ill., is just one example of a foodservice operator that wants to improve service and energy efficiency through linking its equipment. The company has chosen to incorporate new networking technology from the Echelon Corp. of San Jose, Calif. The restaurant chain chose Echelon’s LonWorks technology to network its restaurant kitchen equipment and create the “kitchen of the future.” McDonald’s is encouraging its kitchen equipment manufacturers to include Echelon’s power line technology in new equipment for its restaurants. Enodis, for example, is working to design its products that will be able to incorporate this technology. The communication and data exchange between various pieces of kitchen equipment occurs over existing power lines, making for easy installation and retrofitting. Echelon’s i.LON Internet Server will be used to collect data from McDonald’s kitchen equipment, to create reports, reduce potential data compilation errors and help meet the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) proapplianceDESIGN September 2007 31 http://www.appliancedesign.com
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