CTED
STUBBORN CHALLENGES
CLOUD THE BLUE-SKY VISION
OF TRULY INTEGRATED
CONNECTIVITY.
T
he truly connected foodservice
kitchen is on the cusp of becom-
ing a reality. The technology
is available. Costs are trending
down and tests are ramping up. Compa-
nies have made significant strides in many
areas, and there's lots of chatter about the
amazing possibilities that increased con-
nectivity can bring to the industry.
Why all the excitement? Because
the connected kitchen promises to
improve product consistency and
diminish human error and injuries. The
connected kitchen promises to slash
food waste and energy consumption
while enhancing food safety, reducing
labor costs and maximizing equipment
performance and operating life. In the
connected kitchen, data is easily shared
among systems, equipment and mobile
devices. And that data can be accessed
in real time in the cloud, analyzed
and acted upon remotely or automati-
cally based on the information being
exchanged to improve operations, guest
satisfaction and profitability.
That's the blue-sky vision, and
much of it is already happening to some
degree thanks to an array of individual
technological and systems advance-
ments. Yet truly integrated connectivity
seems destined to remain on the cusp
for a while longer.
"We've come far, but not that far,"
says David Zabrowski, general manager
at Fisher-Nickel Inc. and the PG&E;
Food Service Technology Center in
San Ramon, Calif. "It seems like I've been
saying we're 10 years out from
realizing the connected kitchen vision for
the past 20 years. The arguments for it
are quickly becoming more compelling,
JUNE 2017 • FOODSERVICE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES • 21