The ‘Fight for $15’ movement at McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants is having an effect that the protesters probably didn’t count on. The demands for $15 an hour or a ‘living wage’ have motivated McDonald’s to begin mass deployment of self-order kiosks. I first wrote about these kiosks four years ago when they were in the testing phase and, apparently, they’ve been a huge success.

OK Politechs – These are automated cashiers. That’s right, these machines will take your order and your payment, but never walk off the job to demand more money, never talk back to management, never want an extra smoke break and never call in sick. The testing in Romeoville will answer some important questions for McDonald’s – Will the public want to use them? Can they perform the necessary functions while being user-friendly? Are they cost-effective?

To be cost-effective they need only cost less to purchase and maintain than the wages paid to a human. An […] → Keep reading