The ROI of "Micro-Automations" in QSRs

If you’re responsible for staffing, speed, and margins across QSR locations, your core challenges are pretty constant: 

• Rising labor costs
• Slow or inconsistent ticket times
• Variability in execution from store to store

Micro-automation takes a small, targeted approach to upgrades at specific friction points. 

With modular, station-level solutions, QSR brands can:

• Increase speed and consistency at key stations
• Reduce manual touchpoints in high-volume workflows
• Scale proven wins across multiple locations, one install at a time

Bottom line: micro-automations create a faster, clearer path to ROI in QSR operations

How Micro-Automation Fits Into QSR Operations

For operations leaders and franchisees, the question isn’t “Is automation interesting?”—it’s “Can it fit into my existing stores without blowing up the way we work?”

Big-ticket automation often requires major infrastructure changes and heavy upfront investment—great with the right strategy, but not always what a QSR brand needs.

Micro-automation sits at the other end of that spectrum:

• Small, embedded systems at specific stations
• Designed to tie into existing counters, utilities, and workflows
• Easy to pilot in a few locations, then roll out more broadly

Instead of replacing people, these tools work alongside crews, taking routine steps off their plate and standardizing how key tasks get done. That keeps employees focused on:

• Food quality
• Guest interaction
• Drive-thru flow and throughput

When you plug micro-automations into your highest-friction stations, the gains compound across shifts and locations. The examples below show what that looks like in the field.

Fresh Micro-Automation Examples + Results 

Across the QSR landscape, focused automations are already delivering big returns. Here’s what that looks like in practice.

Self-Service Kiosks

• According to Restroworks, self-order kiosks can:
  
  • Cut order-taking labor costs by ~25%
  • Increase revenue by up to 20%
• BurgerFi, with 124 locations, reports: 
  
  • +18% average check size
  • About $6.7K in monthly savings per cashier by reducing front-of-house labor demand (Avixia)

What this means: kiosks act as a front-of-house micro-automation—shifting routine order entry to guests, lifting ticket size, and freeing staff for hospitality and throughput.

KDS Smart Kitchen

• Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) streamline back-of-house order management.
• Hospitality Tech reports that brands using KDS see:
  
  • ~83% improvement in order accuracy
  • Up to 69% faster ticket times
  • 94% ROI for most brands

What this means: KDS is a BOH micro-automation that turns paper tickets and verbal calls into a visual, trackable workflow, tightening food quality and speed without changing your menu.

Back-Office Automation: Time You Get Back

• IBM cites Primanti Bros saving:
  
  • ~2,000 labor hours per year
  • $84,000 annually
  • ROI was achieved in about three months through workflow automation.

What this means: automating routine back-office tasks (reports, reconciliations, approvals) serves as a hidden labor lever, giving managers more time on the floor rather than in the office. (IBM reports)

General Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

• RPA tools automate tasks like order entry, inventory updates, and data syncs across systems.
• Patent PC reports 25–50% labor cost savings from RPA across industries.

What this means: even without new hardware, software-based micro-automations can quietly remove manual keystrokes and re-entry from your teams’ day. ( Patent PC reports)

Manufacturing Automation

• Automation at the food production and assembly level includes:
  
  • Automatic ovens
  • Conveyor systems
  • Warming timers and smart holding
• CRB Group reports these changes can deliver up to 70% productivity gains when assembling popular menu items.

What this means: smarter equipment and line design act as throughput multipliers, allowing more orders per hour from the same footprint and crew size.

Applying Micro-Automation to Drink Prep

The problem: a hidden bottleneck

For most QSRs, the drink station quietly drags down speed. Crews spend time scooping ice, lining up cups, and watching fill levels instead of moving orders and serving guests.

The solution: ACSD from Cornelius

Cornelius, a Marmon Foodservice company, addresses this with the Automated Crew-Serve Dispenser (ACSD)—a micro-automation system that takes over drink prep without a full remodel. It drops into the footprint of a standard drink dispenser and connects to existing soda lines and CO₂ systems.

How it works

Once installed, ACSD:

• Dispenses ice to the correct volume
• Selects the right beverage recipe for each order
• Controls syrup and water ratios automatically
• Fills to the target level for each cup size

Crew members dock the cup, start the order (or let the POS trigger it), and walk away. A few seconds later, the drink is ready.

Why operations leaders care

By taking repetitive drink prep off the crew’s plate, ACSD:

• Speeds up order fulfillment
• Improves accuracy and consistency
• Frees staff to focus on food assembly and guest experience
• Delivers automation as a modular upgrade, not a disruptive rebuild

Early pilot results

Across early ACSD pilots, restaurants reported:

• 34 seconds faster average ticket time (~1 minute saved every 2 orders)
• 15 seconds saved per drink (~1 minute every 4 drinks)
• 12 more cars served per day during peak hour
• Up to 40% fewer drink-related order issues
• 1 crew member doing the work of 2 at the drink station

In short, ACSD turns drink prep from a labor drain into a repeatable, automated profit lever.

Industry Signals: Why Micro-Automations Are the Future

The macro trend is clear: QSR growth investment is shifting toward modular automation and AI that deliver measurable productivity gains.

• AI in Food and Beverage
  
  • $13B US investment in 2025
  • 38% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)
  • QSRs showing the highest adoption rates
    
    • Why it matters: AI is now a mainstream lever for efficiency, not an experiment.

• Automation and Manufacturing
  
  • 48% of capital expenditures (CAPEX) invested in automation
  • 70% say productivity is the top benefit (CRB)
    
    • Why it matters: capital is flowing to projects that clearly improve throughput and labor leverage.
• Consumer Tech Adoption
  
  • 76% of restaurants use 3+ automated tools
  • 70% say AI cuts waste by 25% according to Restroworks
    
    • Why it matters: your teams are already working with automation—micro-automations are the next, logical layer.

The Advantages of Micro-Automation are One Installation Away

Micro-automations don’t require a remodel to make an impact. One targeted upgrade at a high-friction station can streamline workflows, boost consistency, and free crew members to focus on higher-value tasks.

If you’re exploring where micro-automation could remove friction in your drink station or back-of-house, talk with a representative about what’s possible within your current footprint and utilities.

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