[ad_1]
<div _ngcontent-c14 = "" innerhtml = "
Pizza Hut and Toyota partnered with SEMA 2018 to unveil the Tundra PIE Pro, a "zero emission mobile pizza factory".Credit: Pizza Hut
While restaurant brands, from McDonald's to IHOP, are looking to integrate delivery, Pizza Hut is embarking on the second iteration. The company today announced a partnership with Toyota to develop a prototype vehicle that includes a "kitchen" to cook pizzas before going to the customer's premises.
The Tundra PIE Pro includes a refrigerator, computer-guided robotic arms and a portable conveyor oven. The company says the automated pizza making process takes about 6 to 7 minutes from start to finish. It also boasts the zero-emission characteristics of the vehicle, since the vehicle and all its equipment are powered by an electric powertrain with hydrogen batteries.
Pizza companies have decades of experience in the delivery field, but the fast-growing channel–estimated value of $ 76 billion by 2022–means that it's no longer a differentiator for the segment.
But for Pizza Hut, the goal with this prototype is to differentiate itself by "bringing the oven closer to the customer's door," said operations manager Nicolas Burquier.
"We are exploring all the possibilities to streamline our processes and systems that impact the lives of our team members and simplify their lives, and then examine the impact of these changes on the customer experience," said Burquier. "We know that we have the opportunity to do these things and we are looking into that in order to improve those experiences."
The Tundra PIE Pro marks the second prototype between Toyota and Pizza Hut. The company's first project, for a fleet of driverless delivery vans, was announced for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Both ideas have one important common point: automation.
For the Tundra PIE Pro, when a pizza is ordered, the first robotic arm opens the refrigerator and removes the selected pizza, places it on the oven conveyor and closes the refrigerator door again. According to the company, the pizza is then sent to a fast oven without vents. On the opposite side, a second arm removes the finished pie, places it on the cutting board, divides it into six identical slices, puts it in a box and delivers it to the customer. To create this automated process, Pizza Hut is associated with Nachi Robotics System Inc.
"We are looking at automation to see where it adds value. It certainly makes it safer and easier, but we learn the rest along the way, "said Burquier.
The "rest" includes the price that the truck could eventually cost franchisees (Pizza Hut is 99% franchised) and the right time for deployment. There is no time goal, but Burquier said he "would like it soon".
"We will obviously have to make sure that it works from a cost perspective. What we are doing today is really figuring out how it will work and what we will get out of it, how it will be when we present it and how it will react, "he said. "In this space we sometimes do not know what we do not know."
Although it has been performing for about 30 years, Pizza Hut is currently focusing on this space. Last year, the company announced that it was hiring 14,000 delivery drivers to speed up the service. It has developed a "Distribution Network Algorithm" to improve accuracy and reliability, introduces a new dispensing bag with 3M Thinsulate Insulation thermal technology and launched the Pizza Hut. Delivery Tracker, which includes the Amazon Alexa and Chatbot control features.
"We have been innovating in this space for a long time and that (Tundra PIE Pro) is a natural extension of our DNA," said Burquier. "The key factor for us is reducing the time between the oven and the customer's door. The more we can reduce this time, the better we can be. I am excited to be able to improve the customer experience. "
Although the delivery space is becoming increasingly crowded, Burquier estimates that Pizza Hut has an advantage in the pizza sector simply by having more distribution points, with approximately 6,300 locations in the United States. This is compared to approximately 5600 Domino sites, 2,600 Papa John sites and approximately 4,300 Little Caesar sites.
But saturation may not be important in the future as competition intensifies. Venture capitalists have spent $ 3.5 billion on food distribution companies to date this year, highlighting the tremendous opportunities that exist in this area. This innovation in expedited delivery will continue to blur food service lines, adding much more competition to the Pizza Hut radar than to other pizza companies (see, for example, UberEats virtual restaurants).
Even in the pizzas sector in particular, and even during this second iteration, the delivery race should intensify further. Pizza Hut, for example, is not even the first in the industry to test a rolling oven concept–This distinction belongs to Zume, which goes back to 2015. Without forgetting, competitor Domino's continues to accelerate its testing of driverless delivery vehicles with Ford, and newcomers, such as Pieology, are embarking on delivery by drones. Who knows which technology will be the most practical to implement, but the race to get there should be interesting.
">
Pizza Hut and Toyota partnered with SEMA 2018 to unveil the Tundra PIE Pro, a "zero emission mobile pizza factory".Credit: Pizza Hut
While restaurant brands, from McDonald's to IHOP, are looking to integrate delivery, Pizza Hut is embarking on the second iteration. The company today announced a partnership with Toyota to develop a prototype vehicle that includes a "kitchen" to cook pizzas before going to the customer's premises.
The Tundra PIE Pro includes a refrigerator, computer-guided robotic arms and a portable conveyor oven. The company says the automated pizza making process takes about 6 to 7 minutes from start to finish. It also boasts the zero-emission characteristics of the vehicle, since the vehicle and all its equipment are powered by an electric powertrain with hydrogen batteries.
Pizza companies have decades of experience in the delivery field, but the fast-growing channel–estimated value of $ 76 billion by 2022–means that it's no longer a differentiator for the segment.
But for Pizza Hut, the goal with this prototype is to differentiate itself by "bringing the oven closer to the customer's door," said operations manager Nicolas Burquier.
"We are exploring all the possibilities to streamline our processes and systems that impact the lives of our team members and simplify their lives, and then examine the impact of these changes on the customer experience," said Burquier. "We know that we have the opportunity to do these things and we are looking into that in order to improve those experiences."
The Tundra PIE Pro marks the second prototype between Toyota and Pizza Hut. The company's first project, for a fleet of driverless delivery vans, was announced for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Both ideas have one important common point: automation.
For the Tundra PIE Pro, when a pizza is ordered, the first robotic arm opens the refrigerator and removes the selected pizza, places it on the oven conveyor and closes the refrigerator door again. According to the company, the pizza is then sent to a fast oven without vents. On the opposite side, a second arm removes the finished pie, places it on the cutting board, divides it into six identical slices, puts it in a box and delivers it to the customer. To create this automated process, Pizza Hut is associated with Nachi Robotics System Inc.
"We are looking at automation to see where it adds value. It certainly makes it safer and easier, but we learn the rest along the way, "said Burquier.
The "rest" includes the price that the truck could eventually cost franchisees (Pizza Hut is 99% franchised) and the right time for deployment. There is no time goal, but Burquier said he "would like it soon".
"We will obviously have to make sure that it works from a cost perspective. What we are doing today is really figuring out how it will work and what we will get out of it, how it will be when we present it and how it will react, "he said. "In this space we sometimes do not know what we do not know."
Although it has been performing for about 30 years, Pizza Hut is currently focusing on this space. Last year, the company announced that it was hiring 14,000 delivery drivers to speed up the service. It has developed a "Distribution Network Algorithm" to improve accuracy and reliability, introduces a new dispensing bag with 3M Thinsulate Insulation thermal technology and launched the Pizza Hut. Delivery Tracker, which includes the Amazon Alexa and Chatbot control features.
"We have been innovating in this space for a long time and that (Tundra PIE Pro) is a natural extension of our DNA," said Burquier. "The key factor for us is reducing the time between the oven and the customer's door. The more we can reduce this time, the better we can be. I am excited to be able to improve the customer experience. "
Although the delivery space is becoming increasingly crowded, Burquier estimates that Pizza Hut has an advantage in the pizza sector simply by having more distribution points, with approximately 6,300 locations in the United States. This is compared to approximately 5600 Domino sites, 2,600 Papa John sites and approximately 4,300 Little Caesar sites.
But saturation may not be important in the future as competition intensifies. Venture capitalists have spent $ 3.5 billion on food distribution companies to date this year, highlighting the tremendous opportunities that exist in this area. This innovation in expedited delivery will continue to blur food service lines, adding much more competition to the Pizza Hut radar than to other pizza companies (see, for example, UberEats virtual restaurants).
Even in the pizzas sector in particular, and even in this second iteration, the race for delivery should intensify further. Pizza Hut, for example, is not even the first in the industry to test a rolling oven concept–This distinction belongs to Zume, which goes back to 2015. Without forgetting, competitor Domino's continues to accelerate its testing of driverless delivery vehicles with Ford, and newcomers, such as Pieology, are embarking on delivery by drones. Who knows which technology will be the most practical to implement, but the race to get there should be interesting.
