[Report] Entering the Restaurant, Robots Handle Everything from Guidance to Serving... Four Generations Easily Managed by Three People

VD Company Opens Testbed Store Integrating Automation Solutions for Food Service Industry

Serving robot 'Ketibot' equipped with VD Company's automation solution. Ketibot is a specialized robot for guidance, promotion, and serving, acting as a guide that directly leads customers to their tables.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] "Meow, I brought it."

On the 20th, at a restaurant located in Gasan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. While waiting for food in the dining room, I selected cutlery and napkins and then called a staff member. Shortly after, the automatic door opened, and instead of a person, a cute cat robot entered. It is a serving robot named 'BellaBot.' After picking up the cutlery and napkins, BellaBot greeted and leisurely opened the door to leave the room.

This place is a testbed store established on the 14th by VD Company, the startup holding the No.1 market share in the domestic serving robot market. It allows customers to experience all processes of VD Company's dining automation solutions, including serving robots and tablet menus, in one place. Ham Pansik, CEO of VD Company, whom I met here, said, "Many store owners requested to experience our solution once, so we opened a kind of showroom space in the same office as the headquarters," adding, "Our employees also frequently eat here to discover areas for improvement."

In the store, various serving robots such as BellaBot, PuduBot, KettyBot, and HolaBot were busily moving around. Without robots, about five staff members would have been needed for the 165㎡ (approximately 50 pyeong) store hall. However, by operating four robots, the number of hall staff was streamlined to two. CEO Ham said, "These days, the biggest concern for self-employed business owners is hiring staff rather than sales," and added, "Many store owners fill the vacant workforce with robots to keep their businesses running."

At lunchtime, an office worker came and entered his phone number into a tablet device placed at the store entrance. After receiving a waiting number on his phone, he entered the store shortly after. He was greeted at the entrance by KettyBot. KettyBot is a guide robot specialized in guidance, promotion, and serving, leading customers directly to their tables.

When selecting chopsticks and napkins from the tablet menu and pressing the call staff button, Pudubot opens the door and enters to provide service.

After sitting at the table and selecting food on the tablet menu, PuduBot brings the food. It is a serving-optimized robot designed to prevent drinks and soups from spilling, equipped with a large tray. VD Company imports all robots from the Chinese robotics company Pudu Robotics and supplies them to clients nationwide. Established in February 2019, VD Company supplied over 3,000 serving robots to more than 2,000 stores nationwide as of the end of last year.

At the beginning of this month, VD Company launched a serving robot rental plan priced at around 200,000 KRW per month (based on a 60-month contract). This service is designed for self-employed business owners who find it difficult to purchase serving robots, which cost between 20 million and 30 million KRW, outright. It provides free care without additional travel or parts fees during the warranty period.

Following customer access automation and hall robot serving, VD Company is currently developing kitchen automation solutions. The plan is for robots to directly serve mainly ready-to-eat meals. CEO Ham said, "It is very difficult to find workers in kitchens as well, and if we do not automate this, many restaurants will disappear soon," adding, "We plan to introduce cooking robots by the end of this year."

Next month, VD Company plans to officially launch an application called 'VD Kim Representative.' This integrated platform will solve everything at once, from corporate sales and delivery status to food ingredient ordering and management, tax work, and store consulting. CEO Ham said, "There are over 700,000 dining establishments in Korea, but less than 1% have implemented serving robots," and added, "Since it is an early market, we see many possibilities and will continue to advance our automation solutions."