2021 was a hectic year for hospitality. Especially with all the different rules, regulations and lockdowns. We at Team SPARK want to say thank you to all our customers for staying strong and optimistic.
Last year, the SPARK tech team focused on accelerating the kitchen automation processes and increasing covid safety for all devices. SPARK knows that Hospitality will bounce back from this difficult time period; our technology provides an important solution in improving the running of hospitality venues that are struggling due to extensive damages caused by the covid pandemic. By ensuring their current solutions were secure enough, we've made sure every device works perfectly in every venue - SPARK aims at opening up venues while ensuring their stability so they can continue operations.
SPARK is now officially in strategic partnership with Xero, GoCardless, and Elavon to make handling and sorting payments this year as simple and hassle-free as possible. By integrating with these companies, SPARK ensures a seamless service, meaning everything can be dealt with in a simple, fast manner.
In November SPARK was invited to the northeast tech expo to meet all the local businesses and discuss how they were continuing to develop through the pandemic. SPARK’s hospitality bots went on their debut appearance alongside the Northeast Fund. SPARK is helping them with the wonderful work they're doing to get hospitality businesses back on their feet, and more covid resilient for the future. To further improve the covid resilience of the hospitality sector, SPARK has partnered up with Digital Pathfinder and Newcastle City Council to allow grants and discounts when purchasing covid resilient products.
This year has been a big year for SPARK. We've released 5 new products, a self-ordering kiosk, staff management, mobile ordering, KDS, and SPARK Pay.
One of the newest products released in 2021 is our fully integrated self-service kiosk. Throughout 2021 in these unprecedented times, there have been huge changes to the hospitality workforce which has been labelled ”The Great Resignation”. The self-ordering Kiosk is a cost-effective and covid resilient way to reduce labour costs and adapt to this new way of life. Empower business owners, as well as customers, to have complete control and avoid unnecessary person-to-person contact.
Another new product of ours is the kitchen display system. The KDS we offer comes equipped with multiple operation modes, so hospitality businesses can operate the way they want. This KDS will display and arrange dishes that have been ordered through any device, these can be organised based on selected filters. This allows staff to focus on what's important. We also designed our KDS to save paper in every venue to make everything clearer and to reduce the environmental impact on the planet.
Spark Pay allows customers to be served anytime, anywhere with an internet connection. This is a simple and smart tool we created which will help streamline any business operations. SPARK Pay combines the aspects of an ordering device and a payment device to make the ordering and payment systems as seamless as possible. With the split bill feature, customers can make payments in groups faster than ever before. SPARK Pay is easy to use and takes minutes to train staff instead of hours, combined with clocking in and out staff makes everyday operation for staff as simple as possible.
Staff scheduling is an interactive rota planning platform built for hospitality. All employees will know when they are needed through a digital system that can sync and update immediately. This is a cloud-based platform that allows businesses to use the system wherever they're most comfortable. Employees have access to the app so they can always stay up to date with their shifts and shift changes. Staff can also request holidays and time off through the app and set unavailability times.
Mobile Ordering
SPARK Mobile ordering is an online app that can easily be integrated into any venue. This is a more covid safe way of ordering. Customers can be prompted with upsells automatically to make larger orders. All orders taken through the mobile ordering system are automatically sent to the KDS to be prepared.
Alongside all of these products, SPARK also became the official UK primary distributor of Pudu robotics. This partnership is important for UK hospitality as it brings automation to many strenuous hospitality tasks as well as a new dining experience to the UK.
The Bellabot is one of four smart robotics that we now offer. Bella is a premium delivery bot, that is designed to remove the strain from tedious jobs around hospitality venues. Bella is equipped with 4 large trays to make carrying dishes to customers' tables easy, additionally, Bella has lights inbuilt for assisting customers. Our Bellabot is also equipped with 3D sensors and laser mapping capabilities. Bella can detect objects and stop before any collisions occur.
This bot is our all-new delivery and reception bot. It is perfectly designed to fit any hospitality venue. It can greet and escort guests, attract customer attention and it also has automatic charging allowing for all-day service with no interruptions. One of Ketty's main features is its large front screen, this can be used to advertise different events and meals in the venues to easily promote upsells and new dishes.
Our Hola bot is a heavy-duty delivery bot. This comes with ultra-large carrying capabilities which are perfect for reducing strains on staff when performing tedious tasks. In total Hola can carry up to 60kg in weight on every trip. It also alerts staff to let them know it is there to take any orders or dishes away, all of these features make it perfect for any restaurant.
Puductor 2
Puductor 2 is a disinfectant robot capable of cleaning large areas automatically. Puductor 2 comes equipped with disinfection mist alongside a set of UV lights to kill off 99.9%SPARK Video of bacteria. Puductor 2 minimises the risk of cross-infection and improves sanitary conditions for indoor environments. This is perfect for any large venue that has a lot of people in so customers and staff are kept safe all the time.
SPARK's ambition is to deliver world-class software and hardware for hospitality businesses. In 2022, SPARK is looking forward to helping the industry thrive with their innovation in automation technology that will bring about even more success than what was seen last year! With increased expansion plans underway as well new products being introduced like a reservation bot or service bot which can be tailored specifically towards your needs - it really does look promising all-around at SPARK HQ right now.
