In 1948, two brothers revolutionized the food service industry in an attempt to address to more fast-paced life styles, increase efficiency and boost revenue. First, they ran the data and found most of their profit came from hamburgers. So, they simplified the menu to focus on that item, potato chips and apple pies, according to author Bill Bryson.

But the real innovation was more conceptual than that. Brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald saw their kitchen for what it truly was: an assembly line. In 1952, they purchased a new building that would both catch the eyes of passing drivers and give them the space to create a clean, extremely efficient, standardized process for preparing meals. That single innovation, some 70 years ago, continues to inform the business of quick service restaurants and fast casual food retail in important new ways. Here’s a look at three other innovations that promise to shape the restaurant business in 2018.

1. The integrated supply chain in the contemporary modern kitchen

The integrated supply chain of food covers a network of vendors, manufacturing centers, warehouses, distribution centers and restaurants that raw materials move through, and are changed to meet the needs of the final consumer. The complexity of the food supply chain has grown enormously since Maurice and Richard McDonald’s day, but what remains critical is data. Data informs decisions at every successful food retail operation.

Gone are the days of a burger, chips and an apple pie as the main menu. Today large QSR restaurants can have a dozen different cheeseburger choices on the menu, 13 different sides to choose from, a half-dozen salads and 18 drink choices. And then there are the seasonal coffees, short-term signature sandwiches and other offerings that come and go. This food and drink comes from many different parts of the country, and depending on the operator, even the world. Connected restaurant real-time data provides operators information on everything from food costs to cross-unit operations managers and owners need to make strategic decisions, spot trends, identify issues and reward successes.

At Panasonic, data is at the heart of what we call the “connected restaurant.” This covers not just assembly line technology with conveyor belts that move food as workers prep. It’s a digital overhaul that includes connecting all parts of the restaurant to provide data analytics that promote a better operation. Software ties together disparate functions, collects and interprets data and sends out alerts to quickly inform restaurant operators of things going wrong, and right.

2. Transparency in the food supply chain

Food safety and quality has always been important to restaurants; what’s changing is the attention that consumers are paying to the topic. Social media, education and government regulations are helping to drive interest. “In 2018, expect to see transparency and traceability for all, regardless of their income,” predicts market intelligence agency Mintel. In other words, patrons will be able to learn just about everything they want to know about a food’s origins, ingredients and nutritional information. One example: Independent Purchasing Cooperative (IPC), a SUBWAY franchisee-owned and operated purchasing group.

Focusing on the “Fresh Forward” theme, IPC has for several years worked to achieve the full traceability of suppliers' products as they travel from their source into SUBWAY restaurants, according to a recent article in Modern Restaurant Management. “Knowing exactly where a specific lot code of food product is in the supply chain is our goal. If a product is a risk to our brand, and our customers, the benefits of adopting the use of standards are immeasurable,” Dennis Clabby, IPC’s executive vice president, purchasing, told the magazine, highlighting a view that will accelerate across the industry in the coming year.

3. QSR in the age of autonomy

New technology and pilot projects have generated incredible interest in autonomous vehicles. Developments range from driverless cars navigating city streets in the U.S., Japan and Europe to announcements of advanced technology that will speed developments in both autonomous vehicles and smart infrastructure. These developments are pushing automakers to rethink the business of buying and selling vehicles, and the same developments are expected to reshape retail, restaurants and other industries.

As cars start talking to cars and road infrastructure, it’s not a stretch to imagine a car communicating with a restaurant. Here’s how it might work: A vehicle’s infotainment system uses beacon technology to connect to the restaurant’s operations center. The restaurant accesses data on the purchasing characteristics of the vehicle so that, when this vehicle arrives, the system knows that its occupants typically order two double cheeseburgers, fries and a soda. Already major restaurant operators are rethinking the future of the drive thru.

To understand the future of quick service restaurants and fast casual establishments, tech companies such as Panasonic not only invest in in-house innovation, they also devote considerable time evaluating, testing and supporting nascent entrepreneurial ideas that could be fundamental to not only future driverless cars, but also the food business. In this scenario, tech leaders take on a much greater role as third party ecosystem managers which involves code sharing, open innovation and other partnerships. The beneficiaries are consumers who gain customized and fast service they’ve come to expect while allowing owners to increase revenue and efficiency.

Matt O’Connor is the Senior Vice President Food Service & Retail Solutions Group at Panasonic Corporation of North America.

Route 66 was constructed to address a need created by an emerging technology: the rise of the auto in the United States. When completed in 1926, the highway gave motorists quick passage (at the time) from Chicago to Los Angeles. This transportation shift also gave rise to another innovation. In 1947, Red's Giant Hamburg in Missouri opened the first drive-thru window so customers could pick up their food without leaving their car.

This year the drive thru turns 70, and its influence on the food business is staggering. Americans made 12.4 billion trips to the drive thru in 2016, according to a QSR magazine study, which said that quick service restaurants routinely generate 60–70 percent of their business through the outdoor lane. McDonald’s alone reported that the drive thru accounted for 70 percent of its U.S. sales last year.

Driverless cars, mobile and automation

Tech continues to shape the drive-thru with the biggest changes yet to come. One force is the auto industry. By 2030, around a quarter of all miles driven in the U.S. could be in shared autonomous electric vehicles, according to research. Already technology providers are looking at ways driverless cars could change the food business. More immediately, mobile communications, and automated supply chain advances are spurring shifts.

Forecasting food’s future tech

At September’s FSTec restaurant industry food show, where I delivered a keynote presentation on integrated solutions shaping food service, audience questions covered everything from mobility to connected kitchen strategies. Here are a few ideas.

Ever approach the drive-thru in the middle of a rainstorm? You and everybody else. At America’s drive thrus, bottlenecks are often inevitable, and companies are introducing technologies to serve customers what they want when they want it.

Innovation at Habitat Burger Grill

A few years ago, a chargrilled burger from The Habit Burger Grill, a nationwide fast-casual restaurant concept that specializes in fresh ingredients, was named the “best tasting burger in America.” To accommodate growing interest in its food, The Habit Burger Grill opened drive-thru windows.

To handle the numbers of people who want to use the outdoor lanes, the company introduced a careful mix of planning and technology. It turned to Panasonic Toughbooks to take orders from customers while they wait in the drive-thru line. This gives restaurant employees multiple points to take orders instead of relying on the traditional microphone and menu setup. By having employees move up and the down the line while cars wait, ordering and drive-thru pickup is faster.

DQ’s experience

In Texas, select Dairy Queen restaurants have moved toward putting the entire ordering process into customer’s hands. By providing Panasonic’s solution for self-service touch-screen kiosks, the company has put the power to fully customize orders directly into the hands of their tech-savvy customers. Now customers can place and pay for their orders on self-service kiosks. This frees up staff to more quickly complete orders.

For many food franchisees, profit nirvana is the connected kitchen, which links technologies in the front of the house—including drive-thru windows and kiosks—to automation systems in the back. Robotics is one area garnering excitement. More immediately, tech companies are leveraging other forms of automation—such as algorithms and artificial intelligence—to create solutions to repetitive tasks, like predictive maintenance on a deep fryer so food oil is ordered and changed just in time.

For more on how technology is reshaping the restaurant business, read The Future of the Drive Thru: Overcoming Choke Points.

About 67,000 food services pros from around the globe converged on Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center for the National Restaurant Association’s annual trade show in late May. These are the people who own, manage, buy and sell for some of the industry’s largest brands, and those that we spoke to had questions about technology that blurs lines between business solutions and consumer electronics.

Major food service businesses are increasing investments in technology as a way to improve convenience and the customer experience. They’re also trying new digital endeavors to appeal to a fresh crop of eaters seeking better quality food and an experience that incorporates their gadgets. Whether it’s a tablet-based POS software or an app that allows customers to engage with restaurants on their mobile devices, restaurants are moving toward technologies that look more and more like the tech consumers use in their daily lives. Here’s a look a few other of the most interesting ideas from the show.

1. Co-operative innovation

Some very exciting ideas in food service come from startups, and Panasonic has a track record of working with small companies to provide end-to-end solutions to customers. It benefits the entrepreneur who has an innovation, but may be struggling to bring it to the marketplace or to introduce it to more customers. The small company gains exposure to the engineering and tech resources of a global organization. Perhaps the biggest winner is the food service provider because it sees a steady stream of solutions that can help to increase customer engagement. Panasonic’s work with entrepreneurs take different forms, from partnerships to investments to acquisitions. One such example is Quick Service Software Inc., known for back office software to manage information from the POS and aid in all aspects of managing a quick service restaurant.

2. Immersive tech

For example, those who visited the Panasonic booth this year were able to experience the company’s own twist on this concept with our LinkRay technology. Using visible light communication, LinkRay delivers mobile content by enabling ordinary smartphones to read IDs sent from LED transmitters, such as displays, signboards and spotlights, and to connect to associated mobile content. Applied to restaurants, this technology allows consumers to view expanded menus, nutrition information and even order from their smart phones.

3. Step savers and other productivity hacks

Upscale dining at the movies is a trend sweeping across the U.S., according to Nation’s Restaurant News, which reports that foodservice spending at movie theaters has risen 20 percent compared with a year ago. “Many major movie-theater chains now offer full chef-driven menus complete with alcoholic beverages and seat-side service,” according to the article. One such trendsetter is Flix Brewhouse, which welcomes people with craft beers, fresh and familiar food and blockbuster movies.

To simplify the serving process — and help prevent servers from interrupt action scenes on the big screen — Flix Brewhouse introduced to its locations a feature-packed tablet that would integrate with our existing network infrastructure and most importantly to have ruggedization — and to last without trading off features.

By allowing its servers to present the check and take the payment all with the same device in a single stop at the table, it saves the time that goes into the back-and-forth between dropping the check, returning to pick up the payment, walking to the credit card machine and running the payment before, finally, dropping off the completed bill for the customer to sign and leave a tip. Matthew Baizer, COO of Flix Brewhouse, say that technology provided an opportunity to increase speed of service at their locations.

"We've seen our guest satisfaction and speed of service scores escalate a lot," Mr. Baizer says.Watch a video on how Flix Brewhouse uses mobility to boost customer service:

 Have you ever wanted to get a first-hand look at the work that goes into manufacturing a rugged Panasonic Toughbook device? How about a deep immersion in the culture of Japan? Or an opportunity to share your rugged mobility story directly with Panasonic's engineers? Thanks to Panasonic Mobility's 20^th Anniversary "Who's the Toughest" Sweepstakes, a few lucky Toughbook customers were able to do just that.
 

Throughout Panasonic Mobility's two decades leading the rugged mobility market, one thing that has set us apart has been the close, responsive relationships we establish with our customers. As we celebrate our twentieth year equipping the extraordinary, we wanted to make sure that we paid tribute to our customers and continued the process of learning from them in order to chart a path forward for the Toughbook line.

Six Panasonic customers from the US, France and the United Kingdom who entered the sweepstakes were invited to be our guest on a trip to Japan to see where the Toughbook is made, engage in dialogue with our team members and become immersed in Japanese hospitality and culture. This exchange of ideas, culture and experiences encapsulated the strong relationship and commitment that Panasonic strives for with each of its mobility customers.

"I already held Panasonic in high regard – and this trip absolutely reinforced that faith," said Craig Douglas, Assistant General Manager of the Brunswick & Topsham (Maine) Water District, one of the U.S. winners of the sweepstakes. The utility company utilizes Toughbook 54 laptops in their trucks for GPS routing and ensures field workers can stay connected as they service customers.

While in Japan, the customers toured the Panasonic World Center in Tokyo, providing a vision of where technology in the home and office is going over the next two decades. In Kobe they got a behind the scenes look at how the Toughbook is manufactured and tested. This visit included a tour of the manufacturing floor, in addition to a hands-on experience where our customers were guided by a member of the Panasonic factory team to assemble their very own Toughbook 20.

During a panel discussion with Panasonic executives including Mr. Hiro Sakamoto, Managing Officer of Connected Solutions Company / Director of Mobile Solutions Business Division, Mr. Steve Sakuta, GM of Product Planning, and Mr. Koji Oi, GM of Kobe factory, customers shared their own stories of how Toughbook devices' durability, reliability and compact, lightweight construction equipped them to excel in demanding jobs. They also shared input on where they would like to see Toughbook go in future iterations, with features like new thermal sensors or built-in mobile payment options. While this conversation was a special opportunity arranged for sweepstakes winners in Japan, it is far from unique in the world of Toughbook, where we rely heavily on customer advisory councils in the US to help us better understand the tools our customers need to get the job done.

"The Toughbook platform gives us exactly what we need to do our jobs in the difficult conditions we face on a regular basis," said Craig Douglas. "The customers in attendance really represented the many business around the globe that face these types of challenges and Panasonic is consistently delivering a superior product that meets those needs."

But the trip wasn't all Toughbook, all the time – our guests also received a crash course in Japanese culture and history. From staying at local ryokans, Japanese inns with tatami mat floors and traditional hospitality, to riding the world-famous Shinkansen bullet trains, to participating in Samurai training, our guests were given a trip with a uniquely Japanese flare. And we can't forget the karaoke!

Each of us at Panasonic is intensely grateful for the relationships we have with all of our customers and we were privileged to give a few of them a chance to experience that gratitude in person. As we embark on the next chapter of the Panasonic story, we know that continuing these strong ties with the men and women who need a rugged device to meet the demands of their critical jobs will be what allows us to maintain our leadership role in the rugged mobility space.

Please visit us online to learn more about the 20^th anniversary of the Toughbook brand, and learn more about how we got here and what's next.

Trucking and package delivery fleet managers face pressures to increase efficiencies and reduce expenses while they enhance customer service. Fleet Management and the data maintained by electronic logging device (ELD) solutions paired with rugged, purpose-built mobile devices, are essential for achiving these goals. These devices are designed to perform under adverse and demanding conditions, where consumer-grade tablets and notebooks are not purposely designed to withstand daily usage in commercial vehicles and likely to fail. In order for Fleet Managers to meet their goals, their mobile device deployments need to address these six core competancies.

1. Customer Service

Customers rely on timely and transparent delivery tracking provided wirelessly by on-vehicle mobile solutions to dispatch systems that track progress against planned routes and allow dispatchers to answer inquiries from customers. The mobile devices must have built in optimal wireless connectivity to connect to both GPS satellites and cellular networks — even through weak signal areas. The mobile applications that generate and report conditions along the delivery path ease customer service tasks by delivering regular updates to keep operations staff aware of current conditions or possible delays.

According to Laura Lohrke, senior product manager at Omnitracs, “The lack of mobile connection in each vehicle leaves you blind to their status.” For example, with health-care providers, transport and location of life-critical medical equipment and supplies such as oxygen and medicines must be accounted for in real time.

2. Asset Management 

Assets range from forklifts to trucks and trailers, each of which contributes to the smooth and continuous functioning of a transportation fleet. Mobile technology and the applications they support, track and report their locations and when they are expected to return to the company yard or distribution center. This timing information is critical to schedule loading and unloading, and the data collected by the applications is used to understand how assets are performing and when maintenance is needed.

3. Fuel Management

It's imperative for transport companies to create the most fuel-efficient routes for their drivers through GPS-enabled route guidance. “We can create the perfect plan for mileage, but if we don’t know if the driver followed the plan, costs can be much higher than they should be,” says Lohrke. Vehicles with a telematics “black box” coupled with a wirelessly connected rugged mobile device solution, allow operations to check routes in real time. This provides information on driving habits such as rapid acceleration, idling, and speeding — all of which can increase operating costs.

4. Compliance Solutions

One aspect of the ELD mandate allows that mobile devices such as tablets or rugged handhelds can be used as long as the system as a whole meets ELD requirements. This allows drivers to not only use their mobile devices for navigation and see alerts but also to use them to perform pre and post vehicle inspections. When the mobile tablets are out of the vehicle, they are subject to adversities such as weather conditions and grease. Using industrial-grade mobile tablets or handheld devices that can withstand near constant vibration, extreme weather conditions, survive being dropped or liquid spills and be operated with heavy duty gloves on, will deliver reliable use. Consumer-oriented mobile devices are likely to fail under these conditions and possibly lead compliance issues and even fines.

5. Accurate and Timely Data Reporting

Mobile handheld computing units remove the extra-time and inaccuracies of manual record keeping, as required by the ELD mandate. Automated updates can be triggered by GPS location or time of day, and drivers can enter responses by touching the screen rather than writing. The results of the captured data are transmitted to the transport company’s internal applications wirelessly and become part of the driver-vehicle inspection report (DVIR). Data can also be captured and reported on vehicle performance and maintenance, allowing more proactive and efficient scheduling for service versus dealing with unexpected breakdowns. Results from the data collected by mobile devices can be evaluated by safety supervisors and driver managers, then shared with drivers to address areas of concern, thereby keeping them and their cargo safe and in compliance with regulations.

6. Driver/Employee Safety

Mobile solutions allow drivers to receive critical alerts on weather, road conditions or traffic as well as other timely information updates from dispatchers. Flexible mounting options allow positioning of screens so drivers can see them without being distracted from their view of the road.  

Is your mobile fleet management & ELD solution ready to reliably meet these 6 core competencies and comply with the ELD mandate? Purpose-built, rugged mobile device solutions are essential to increase efficiencies, decrease downtime being in compliance. Visit us online for more information on equipping your fleet with rugged mobile devices to improve your fleet operations.