Camera makes pizza quality check a snap

PETRINA BERRY
January 30, 2017
Australian Associated Press
A tech company has developed a system that photographs pizzas as they emerge from the oven at fast food chains so customers can see that their order is picture perfect.
Israeli based technology group Dragontail Systems, which floated on the Australian Securities Exchange in December, wants to automate quality control at restaurants, starting with pizza chains.
In the past year, Dragontail has been testing its Camera Cut Station Unit, a system of wireless sensors that monitor oven, fridge and kitchen temperatures while taking photos of freshly cooked pizzas.
The camera analyses the quality of ingredients and checks that there is nothing missing from the pizza, Dragontail chief executive Ido Levanon said.
“The camera takes a picture automatically when the pizza comes out of the oven and it analyses the pizza using a mathematical model,” Mr Levanon said.
“First the quality of the dough, quality of the cheese and then it compares it to the colour and texture of what it is supposed to look like.
“If it doesn’t look like it’s supposed to then it alerts staff right there on the spot.”
It also sends a photo of the pizza and the temperature of the product to customers via SMS or email where customers have the option to respond via a link.
Mr Levanon said it creates a new level of transparency for the customer and gives staff an added incentive to do a good job.
It also reduces pizzas being rejected by alerting staff to preparation errors.
“Pizza chains have a procedure where so many times a day a store manager has to check the quality of pizzas where only a small sample are checked,” he said.
“The great thing about the camera is that it checks every single pizza and it removes the need for paperwork.”
Dragontail has signed up a pizza chain in Australia – it won’t name the client until February, and hopes to expand to other fast food businesses.
The company already provides automated order and delivery systems to a number of chains, including Pizza Hut in North America and Israel.
Dragontail, which has an office in Melbourne, listed on the ASX as a gateway to the Asia Pacific region and is trading above its 20 cent issue price.
The stock rose last week from around 21 cents to 27 cents after Dragontail announced a tie-up with a US technology company, and was down one cent at 26 cents at 1125 AEDT on Monday.