FZ Digital, a technology solutions company, launches in Singapore to bring cutting edge automation and robotics technology to Singapore’s F&B industry
- Written by The Chronicle
Launched in October 2022, it aims to be at the forefront of a robot-enhanced F&B workforce while being the go-to resource for the best F&B technology solutions in Singapore. Partnering with CloudMinds and POSBANK, FZ Digital will be launching Singapore's first F&B robotics and smart kiosks, to push innovation and alleviate Singapore's F&B manpower crisis.
The partnership will see the launch of two AI robots, the Cloud Ginger Lite D Series, and smart kiosks during FHA-HoReCa (25 – 28 October 2022) as part of the timely solution to address manpower woes in the F&B industry and assist F&B SMEs to maximize productivity and revenue while providing better customer experience. Implementing robotics in F&B establishments is estimated to save between 30%-70% on labour costs for restaurants, with many coming out of prototype phase and able to perform most if not all of the tasks humans can[1]. This will significantly reduce both dependency on human labour and manpower costs. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Robots is a fast growing industry projected to be worth USD54.3 billion globally by 2030[2].
"The introduction of robotics into F&B is a much-needed step especially in recent times to push innovation and alleviating the many woes of the F&B industry. Manpower issues and labour shortages have become rampant in Singapore and worldwide, with the recovery of many restaurants and F&B outlets from the pandemic dampened by a stark struggle to hire staff. Many who left the country when borders shut have decided to not return, resulting in severe shortage and, consequently, higher costs to obtain and retain labour," said Chris Tarr, Chief Product Officer of FZ Digital.
FZ Digital: Automating The Future
1DERLIFE Growth, an acquisition company based in Singapore led by principal, Gregory Lee, acquired FoodZaps, a POS software company founded in 2014 with 200 F&B customers in Singapore and 300 in Malaysia. It then launched FoodZaps as FZ Digital, a hardware and software integrated solutions company for the F&B industry. Lee has long believed that manpower challenges for SMEs in Singapore will be one of the greatest challenges and as a result, software and robotics automation solutions market will grow rapidly. 1DERLIFE Growth has plans for additional acquisitions to build scale in the F&B solutions sector.
Forming a new management team for FZ Digital, bringing together Chelsea Chan, previously FoodZap's co-founder and 8-year industry leader, as Managing Director, and Chris Tarr, a veteran of software and mobile services industry and former executive of Samsung Electronics, as Chief Product Officer. FZ Digital seeks to streamline and revolutionize the way the F&B industry works.
Chris Tarr is a veteran leader of new business and product innovation, with over 15 years of experience at Samsung, who has recently joined FZ Digital as its Chief Product Officer. As Regional Head of Mobile Services and Partnerships at Samsung, Chris brings extensive experience innovating and launching new mobile services across Southeast Asia. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and spent his early career as a senior software architect in numerous startups after graduating from MIT.
Launching Singapore's first F&B robotics and smart kiosks
The two robotic stock-keeping units (SKUs) that will be launched officially during FHA-HoReCa are the D300 Circular Tray and D311 Square Cabinets automated food delivery robots, both equipped with an integrated auto navigation and obstacle system to run stably in complex situations. Using clever localization and navigation based on a 3D semantic map and multiple sensors, they have the ability to perceive their 3D environment to deliver food to diners quickly and safely.
The installation is straightforward and takes places across three phases, namely:
- Syncing the AI platform (the robots) to AI machine learning, programmed with modules to make the robots the first cloud-based robot solution
- Digitally mapping and mirroring the real-time and virtual environment to the prototype to develop, test and train the robots on how to manoeuvre themselves
- Installing and plugging the robots into actual physical environment to run
Based on the cloud communication and algorithm architecture, rapid decision-making and intelligent scheduling is carried out according to the urgency of the task to ensure the orderly operation of multiple robots. By interconnecting with other Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as elevators, access control, turnstiles, and telephones, Ginger Lite can provide accurate delivery services autonomously.
Partnership with CloudMinds and POSBANK
CloudMinds is the world's first operator of cloud intelligent robots and has been committed to the implementation of artificial intelligence technology using robots and all types of smart devices. Utilizing the leading cloud intelligent robot solution, CloudMinds has built a smart cloud platform based on HARIX architecture and will offer a variety of services including smart building, smart security, smart property management, and more. CloudMinds' full range of intelligent robots may be deployable in many scenarios such as hospitality, reception, security, patrol, or even as a smart doorman. Therefore, FZ Digital has partnered with CloudMinds to provide robot services to Singapore F&B SMEs.
POSBANK is the number one point of sale (POS) and self-service kiosk manufacturing company in Korea and has one of the lowest error rates in the marketplace at 0.5%. It is also the global leading provider of point of sale (POS) with more than 200 partners in 80 countries worldwide. It continually pushes the boundaries of industry standards with sophisticated design and high-performance products to solve industry needs.
For high-res images, please access here.
Hashtag: #FZDigital
About FZ Digital
FZ Digital, previously known as FoodZaps, is a POS software company founded in 2014 with 200 F&B customers in Singapore and 300 in Malaysia. 1DERLIFE Growth, an acquisition company based in Singapore acquired the company and launched it as FZ Digital, a hardware and software integrated solutions company for the F&B industry. Using robotics, smart automation, and Internet of Things, FZ Digital seeks to streamline and change the way the F&B industry works for the better.