OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Baltimore, delivering food from the kitchen to tables. Carolyn Wescott, director of innovation
for CSG, says CSG decided to explore the use of service robotics to gauge if it could bolster the dining program without hiking labor costs. “After seeing their application in the re-
tail space, it was clear to us that a service robot would be able to complete repetitive, predictable, and often time-consuming tasks that distract our team members from either improving food quality (increasing scratch cooking, garnishing, etc.) or resident en- gagement,” Wescott says.
Support, not replace Similarly, Sveda says the introduction of Lenny at Lenbrook was designed to allow the community “to play a little bit with our staffing pattern.” “We are a very high-touch field,” Sveda
says. “We are not looking to replace our staff, but we are looking for ways to be more efficient. And so what we were able to do is reallocate a busser position or a runner position, and instead allow our staff to be interacting with the residents.” The Springs Living, which is based in
Oregon, piloted its robot program for delivering food to dining residents at one of its 18 communities in August last year and now has robots in eight communities with the intention to add more, says Brenda Connelly, chief operating officer. “We have seen improved service times
and food quality outcomes using the robots, especially during slow times and low-volume service periods when we typically would have less staff available,” Connelly says. “Food gets sent from the line to dining
room when it’s ready versus waiting for a server to retrieve the food. Faster service means hotter food and happier residents.”
Meals are securely plated on the robot at Springwell. Based on the results so far, Connelly says,
“we anticipate that the program will contin- ue to grow and evolve in the coming months and years.”
Carrying heavy loads LG’s CLOIi ServeBot is among the emerg- ing robotics tools designed for dining sup- port. The autonomous unit uses multiple cameras and sensors to navigate complex
environments, carrying up to 66 pounds of goods on three shelves. Kimberly Regillio, senior manager, public
relations for the company, says the ServeBot is meant to augment the existing dining ser- vice workflow—not to replace it. Robots excel at managing repetitive, me-
nial tasks, she says. The dining operations at senior living communities are among the natural fits for robots, she says.
Trying a robot in the community’s bar area worked out, says Felecia Sveda, vice president of hospitality services for Lenbrook. “Residents were pleasantly surprised seeing that it didn't disrupt the services that they were experiencing in our club—and it actually expedited the service of the drinks.”
32 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE MARCH/APRIL 2022
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