Buffalo Wild Wings is now testing a robot that can fry chicken wingsBuffalo Wild Wings is now testing a robot that can fry chicken wings

Joanna Fantozzi

Miso Robotics — the robotic technology company behind the burger-flipping Flippy the Robot — announced Thursday a partnership with Inspire Brands’ Buffalo Wild Wings.

Flippy Wings is a “robotic chicken wing frying solution” that is designed to help brands maximize chicken wing output even while short-staffed in the kitchen.

"Technology is making a fundamental impact on the end-to-end restaurant operational model," Paul Brown, CEO of Inspire Brands said in a statement. "Intelligent automation including AI and robotics will not only transform how we communicate with and take orders from our guests but also how we prepare and serve food to those guests. This transformation will ultimately result in improved efficiencies in our restaurants and an overall elevated experience for our guests and our team members."

Inspire Brands’ first Flippy Wings machine (which is already being dubbed “Wingy”) is being installed at the Inspire Brands Innovation Center in Atlanta, and a second will be installed at the Allowance Kitchen—Inspire Brands’ ghost kitchen center — where it will be tested and tweaked before making its way to a standalone Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant sometime next year.

Wingy can fry up chicken wings and dropping them into a hot holding area for kitchen staff to pick up and distribute to guests when they’re ready. Initial tests by Miso show a 10-20% increase in productivity speed when the robot is being utilized, as well as fewer oil spillages.

“From day one, Flippy Wings will cook more food with less waste and save staff for higher value contributions,” Mike Bell, CEO of Miso Robotics said in a statement. “Flippy Wings fries fresh, frozen or hand-breaded products like a pro, avoiding cross-contamination and increasing throughput while reducing costs. It is fast, safer to operate than traditional fryers and the whole system can be set up in just a few hours over existing equipment.”

Miso Robotics already is partnered with restaurants like White Castle has more robotic technology partnerships planned down the line in 2021 and beyond.

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