Regarding the current technological progress and the recognition of new approaches and methods in the food industry, many people and companies from different countries are bothered with an idea of how to achieve a competitive advantage, make a right choice, and understand what type of improvement in production technology can be more appropriate for their products. In this paper, the issue of recent advances in production technology will be discussed in order to investigate the worth of visual systems in the food industry.
Today, it is not a complicated task to develop new products and follow the norms and requirements that are established by special organizations. However, many company or certain individuals find some new ways to break the system and overcome important rules that may influence the quality of services and products that can be offered to ordinary people. The implementation of vision systems is an area of technology that promotes advances, enhances the production of high-quality products, and improves productivity at different levels.
Plan of Work
A firm aims at producing fast food for the US population. This field is rather competitive in the world, and it is necessary to introduce some advancement in production technology and prove the importance of the chosen approach. The description of the peculiar features of visual inspection in a particular industry, fast food, is a step to be taken. Then, the evaluation of the current studies and the explanations of how this technology becomes a used-production method in the food industry are required. Finally, a comparison of advantages and disadvantages of vision systems and inspection should help to clarify the benefits and the possible impact of this technology being implemented by one of the American firms on people, communities, organizations, and the food industry.
Vision Systems and a Competitive Advantage
Nowadays, people try to control each other’s activities and make sure that no rules are broken, and all instructions are followed. However, in many cases, inspections organized by humans remain to be exhausting and intense causing certain errors or omissions. Heizer, Render, and Munson (2017) suggest using vision systems as one of the possible types of advancement in production in terms of which video cameras and computer technologies perform inspection roles.
Modern people want to know as much as possible about everything. They find it necessary to surf the web and learn their diagnoses before they actually visit a doctor or investigate the history of a restaurant before place an order. Almost the same things happen in the food industry. People want to know how and under which conditions their food is prepared. Vision systems turn out to be a solid competitive advantage for many organizations with the help of which they can provide their potential and regular customers with the required information and a level of awareness and, at the same time, control the work of employees and the quality of food offered.
Reasons to Support the Technology
A firm that wants to achieve positive results and stay competitive in the fast food industry has to adopt a vision inspection technology because of several reasons. First, it helps to inform customers about what happens in the kitchen, how their food is prepared, and if they can trust to the chosen organization. Second, leaders can use this technology to gain control over the work of their employees. Finally, visual inspection can be appreciated and even financially supported by special organizations that aim at controlling food quality.
Some restaurants have already used Instagram or other social media sources to inform their regular or potential customers about the quality and variety of food that can be offered to them (Guidry, Messner, Jin, & Medina-Messner, 2015). Not many companies are ready to support constant video inspections available online due to a number of organizational and legal issues. Those companies that choose to be open online are usually preferred by people. In other words, visual systems can increase customer trust and loyalty.
Vision Systems as a Used Production Method
During the last two decades, the level of awareness of food safety issues and food environments has been increased (Choi & Scharff, 2017). There are many TV shows that discuss how food has to be prepared. People want to know more about how different services that they have access to are developed and checked. Vision systems have been already successfully used by different banks and companies where control and order are required. Video cameras are used in stores and offices to check if there are some problems or violations in buildings. With time, it becomes interesting if there are some challenges in the kitchen. So that vision systems, as a used production method in numerous organizations, can be offered as an advanced technology in the fast food industry.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Visual Inspections
The main advantages of visual inspection in fast food restaurants are its price (as a rule, cameras do not cost a lot), fast image acquisition (people observe what actually happen in the kitchen), and ease inspection access (people watch and check if everything is ok in the organization). However, it is also necessary to remember about the possible disadvantages of this technology. For example, certain ethical concerns and employees’ freedoms may be taken into consideration.
All employees should agree with an idea of being broadcasted online all the time. Not all organizations may allow these cameras being implemented due to different reasons. Visual inspection should not be defined as an obligation for all American companies. Finally, there is a small field of view in cameras. There are no guarantees for people to be sure that they can see everything. Therefore, the implementation of visual cameras may cause a number of ethical concerns that have to be solved.
Benefits of the Technology
Taking into consideration the history of the chosen advancement technology and the advantages and disadvantages of this idea in the fast food production industry, modern organizations and restaurants have to be aware of the main benefits of visual systems being implemented. First, it improves people’s awareness of what is happening in the restaurants and the areas which are not demonstrated to ordinary visitors. Second, the price of this technology is not high, and the outcomes such as an improved customer base and high-quality production are priceless.
Finally, the leaders in the chosen industry have a chance to control their employees and observe their activities anytime they want. Food production is the area that is characterized by a number of requirements and norms. Visual inspection is a good way to check and improve human activities.
Impact of the Technology
To understand the impact of the technology, it is enough to think what can happen if it is not implemented. First, it is necessary to realize that other companies may use this technology and attract new people. Second, it is a good chance to improve the quality of services and food. Finally, people may think that if it is not adopted than an organization has something to hide. Clients’ concerns and guesses can hardly lead to some positive outcomes.
References
Choi, J., & Scharff, R.L. (2017). Effect of a publicly accessible disclosure system on food safety inspection scores in retail and food service establishments. Journal of Food Protection, 80(7), 1188-1192.
Guidry, J.D., Messner, M., Jin, Y., & Medina-Messner, V. (2015). From #mcdonaldsfail to #dominossucks: An analysis of Instagram images about the 10 largest fast food companies. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 20(3), 344-359.
Heizer, J., Render, B., & Munson, C. (2017). Operations management: Sustainability and supply chain management. New York, NY: Pearson.