Automation and Innovation: Coffee

Historically, automation has been the primary way the manufacturing industry achieved cost savings. You take a simple recurring task, remove the human element, put a machine in its place and voilà, automation has been implemented. According to a whitepaper from SkyBot Software, the benefits derived from automating tasks include cost reduction, increase in productivity, availability, reliability, and performance.

Cost reduction, increase in productivity, reliability, and performance are all derived from one factor, which is the removal of the human element. Once an employee is removed from performing the automated task, cost reduction can occur by either lowering the hours worked or eliminating the position completely. From this standpoint a company can save on wage expenses, healthcare expenses, and other ancillary expenses that are associated with maintaining that particular position. Because a machine does not get tired or take lunch breaks, productivity will increase because more work can be done in the same amount of time. Machines are able to be programmed to do a task within specific parameters to produce nearly identical results or products every time. This consistency in process allows a task to done reliably. Now that the human element has been removed, companies can realize gains in performance, because machines do not slow down and can work around the clock to meet any quotas. 

Automation technology is ideal for any company attempting to improve on any of the aforementioned factors. However, humans can benefit from automation just as much as the companies they work for. Every person would like to reduce the cost of items they purchase, increase their productivity, produce more reliable work, and increase their overall performance, in work or life. One company has attempted to bring the benefits of automation to the public by automating a simple task that most people waste a lot of time on. The company is Briggo and the task is getting coffee.

People waste a lot of time waiting in line for coffee: the decrease in time in a day correlates to a decrease in productivity, because people have less time to do work, a decrease in reliability because people may rush to complete work, and less productive people who rush to complete their work often do not perform well. Additionally, there is absolutely no cost savings derived from purchasing coffee, considering the average price of a cup of coffee is $2.00, not taking into account premium coffee such as a latte, which can cost an individual as much as $32,000 a over a span of a person's career. 

With a Briggo coffee kiosk, a person is able to place an order for coffee through their smartphone, which will then be ready by the time the consumer arrives. The Briggo machine adds precious minutes to an individual's day, while charging 30% less for its coffee. Quality has not been cut because of automation and price. Briggo's sourcing department features Starbucks veterans that only procure the most ideal coffee beans, which are then roasted within the machine itself.

On the production side, Briggo's automation leads to savings by removing the human component of coffee making: the barista. Like a Keurig on steroids (and about the size of a few refrigerators lined up side-by-side) the Briggo takes a user's order via the above-described methods and then robotically assembles the beverage. The same qualities that make robots so well-suited for production -- consistent quality, reliability, and performance -- make the Briggo a perfect coffee delivery system: it delivers the same product repeatedly with a consistency no human can match.

Automation has been used in the manufacturing industry to bring about a variety of positive changes. Thanks to Briggo, indivuduals are now able to see innovative automation processes brought to the general public, so that they to may realize a variety of positive changes.

Photo courtesy of CanonTradeShows.com