“It’s so good” Bakery Adopts Vision AI for Workforce Streamlining
June 28, 2023
The Japanese bakery “It’s so good” in Fukuoka has always been highly interested in new technologies. Before implementing Viscovery’s AI-powered image recognition system, It’s so good spent two years exploring the potential of using image recognition technology at the checkout. In October 2022, It’s so good received a recommendation from Smaregi, an iPad POS system provider, to implement Viscovery’s AI Visual Checkout system. This recommendation led to the realization of their long-held idea and even resulted in unexpected results.
Two Years of Anticipation
Two Years before being introduced to Viscovery, It’s so good intuitively believed that the “application of image recognition” would be a future trend in the bakery industry. However, due to the high costs of other solutions available in the market, they had to temporarily put this idea on hold. Nonetheless, they remained steadfast in their belief that there would be an opportunity in the future to experience such a new technology.
In October 2022, thanks to Smaregi’s introduction, It’s so good learned about Viscovery’s AI image recognition system and immediately decided to adopt it. Furthermore, It’s so good discovered that the system not only enhanced checkout efficiency but also brought significant benefits to their overall operations.
Optimizing Workforce Allocation with AI
With AI, It’s so good was able to delegate the tedious task of bread identification to AI, allowing It’s so good to allocate their workforce more effectively to other important tasks.
Moreover, it proved to be cost-effective, eliminating the need to invest significant time and resources in training employees to memorize various bread types (saving time cost). Even new employees could quickly adapt to the checkout tasks.
In terms of staffing, It’s so good was able to reduce the workforce by one person, even during peak hours, without any issues (reducing labor costs). Thanks to AI, It’s so good could efficiently handle sudden increases in customer traffic, resulting in substantial advantages for their operations.
In an era of declining birth rates, labor shortages, and rising costs, businesses face soaring labor expenses and find recruitment increasingly challenging. The introduction of AI provides a much-needed solution. It’s so good acknowledges the value of the “AI Visual Checkout system” unanimously, from the owner to the staff. They believe the AI adoption should extend to other businesses, given the increasing importance of AI in companies’ operations.
Seamless Integration with the Existing POS System
When deploying Viscovery’s AI system, It’s so good did not have to replace their existing checkout devices but continued to use the Smaregi iPad POS system. The seamless integration was crucial for It’s so good. Moreover, since It’s so good is still using the existing system, the overall workflow remains smooth even after the AI implementation.
The AI system has improved It’s so good operational efficiency and has helped in saving labor costs, as well as addressing the challenges of labor shortages. It’s so good believes that the application of AI will gradually become an indispensable skill for businesses. They hope that this successful case can inspire other businesses, enabling more people to understand the benefits of implementing AI and unlocking further innovation and possibilities for future operations.
