A Robot That Will Make You Go “Holy Guacamole”

By Guest Blogger Myra Wadhawan

Can two minutes make up $25 million?

Customers who wait less than two minutes for their order are four times more likely to reorder than those who wait 10 minutes. This is why Chipotle has invested $25 million in automated food preparation. The products of this investment include the Autocado for preparing avocados, Chippy, which will make tortilla chips, and a machine to assemble online-ordered bowls. All of these robots are called “cobots.” As collaborative robots, they are part of Chipotle’s goal to assist its employees rather than replace them.

The Autocado is currently the most successful “cobot.” Designed to streamline the labor-intensive task of preparing avocados, this machine uses precision processing to cut, core, and peel avocados. By halving prep time, it potentially saves over $37 million annually. Additionally, it will improve employee satisfaction by automating one of the most lengthy and tedious tasks. Service quality will also improve, aligning with Chipotle’s fast-casual brand. The “seven-second rule” shows that reducing customer wait times by seven seconds can increase a chain’s market share by as much as one percent.

Using the Autocado:

More than increasing profits for Chipotle, the Autocado is also somewhat ethical. Looking at MIT’s four levels of ethical automation, the Autocado rests in the middle. Its sole purpose is not just profitability. Instead, without causing layoffs, it helps workers do their jobs more efficiently. But for the Autocado to be the most ethical, it would have to use the savings from automation to increase societal well-being, by growing its operations, creating new jobs, or investing in sustainability. 

It will be intriguing to see if the Autocado retains employees and is as ethical as Chipotle says it will be.

Sources:

https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/ethics-and-automation-what-to-do-when-workers-are-displaced 

https://newsroom.chipotle.com/2024-09-16-CHIPOTLE-DEBUTS-AUTOCADO-AND-THE-AUGMENTED-MAKELINE-BY-HYPHEN-IN-RESTAURANTS 

https://www.foodandwine.com/chipotle-autocado-machine-augmented-makeline-device-8712664