Insights 2015/Chpter 1 - インテグラル96の部屋

『Robots help sushi-go-round turn high tech』
　With its masters required to home their skills over decades, sushi is steeped in tradition. But it is also a high-tech operation where robotic precision steals the limelight from the chef's knife.
　Japan is dotted with thousands of kaiten sushi restaurants where raw fish slices atop rice balls travel on conveyor belts along counters waiting to be picked up by diners.
　"Sushi isn't going round at random, but rather it is coming out based on a number of calculations," said Akihito Tsuji, public relations manager at Kura Corp., a major operator in a market expected to hit $5 billion in revenue this year, according to industry figures.
　"Though traditional, sushi is stuffed with high technology. You can't operate low-price revolving sushi restaurants without databased and scientific management," he said at a Tokyo outlet.
　Since their birth half a century ago, kaiten sushi restaurants have evolved from selling traditional sushi, today offering other dishes popular with Japanese, including tempura, noodles, and even ice cream. The dishes are cheap, usually starting at around ¥100 for two pieces of sushi.
　Now, more and more outlets are equipped with "high-speed" lanes where customers can receive their order via touch-screen menu.
　Inside the kitchen, screens show how many adults and children are dining and roughly how long they have been I the restaurant. The system combines real-time date with information about how many items were consumed in similar circumstances in the past, displaying results for kitchen staff.
　Complementing on-the-spot efforts, the Kura chain also has a remote assistance system serving its network of more than 300 outlets.
　In-store cameras feed images to dozens of supervisors who move from restaurant to restaurant with laptops―while others watch from monitoring centers―to advise restaurants instantly if there is enough food and the right mix of offerings on the conveyer belt.
　High technology costs money, but sales at kaiten sushi restaurants have grown 20 percent over the past five years, according to research firm Fuji-Keizai Group.