Warrnambool restaurant trials robot waiter to support existing staff

It comes as the venue constantly looks for ways to be innovative and relevant in today's market.

Elements owner Gene Seabrook said it was the first robot waiter in Warrnambool and the venue was trialling the technology for two weeks.

He said the move wasn't to replace staff members but rather provide support to existing workers and improve restaurant efficiencies.

Named BeepBop by a young customer in an online Elements restaurant poll, the robot is programmed to deliver plated food to the table with a greeting and collect plates once meals are finished.

Mr Seabrook said the two-week placement allowed the business to trial the robot waiter, test its functions and efficiencies, gauge customers' response, while also providing a fun dining experience.

"It's faster to get meals to people so it's about providing a more efficient, fun service," Mr Seabrook said.

"It's not replacing a staff member. We still have our floor staff and our kitchen staff. It's supporting the wait staff to provide that service."

Mr Seabrook said the new technology came about as a result of the skills shortage and a lack of people wanting to apply for positions.

"It prompted the idea to look at innovations," he said. "It seems to be the way things are going."

Mr Seabrook said finding staff coming out of the pandemic had been difficult and forced the venue to finesse its opening hours and days and trial different things.

"It seems like there's not as many people seeking jobs in hospitality as there was before," he said. "That's been a challenge across all the hospitality components for businesses, but I would say all businesses are feeling that as well."

Changes at the restaurant included multi-skilling staff so they could work in different parts of the venue and moving away from providing breakfast to onsite Mid City Motel guests.

"The breakfast service is something we offered but we're no longer doing it," Mr Seabrook said.

"We're focusing on what Elements do really well which is dinner. It's about enhancing the service for the diners and the diners' experience.

He said during the pandemic the restaurant adopted QR codes for customer orders and online payment which was done at the table and continued to work well.

The QR code also replaced table menus which he said gave them flexibility to change and update the online menu.

Mr Seabrook said it was important to continue to evolve and said business operators could learn from each other. He said the robot was a really good opportunity for anyone thinking about adopting the technology and invited them to come in and try it.

"There's so much changing," he said. "You've got to keep your ear to the ground and stay in the know and try and make sure we're always adapting to meet the needs of the customer and exceed their expectations."

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