Method for setting a work process in a system of cooking devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cooking appliance systems lack automation and efficiency in determining optimal work processes, often relying on manual experience and prone to errors, leading to suboptimal resource utilization and cost management in large-scale kitchens.
Innovation Solution
A method that connects cooking appliances to a merchandise management system and controlling system via a network, enabling automated workflow creation, self-learning, and cost calculation, optimizing cooking processes based on ideal cooking methods and available device capacities, and automatically adjusting food quantities and orders.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual experience-based planning is used for cooking processes, then flexibility in handling various cooking scenarios is maintained, but errors increase and resource utilization becomes suboptimal
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-learning by automatically analyzing cooking data, device capacities, and workflow patterns to improve work process determination without manual intervention. The cooking devices autonomously optimize their own operation schedules based on accumulated experience and networked information from other devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where cooking results, resource consumption data, and workflow efficiency metrics are continuously monitored and fed back to the control system. This enables automatic adjustment and optimization of work processes, reducing errors while maintaining high automation levels.
2Productivity
If automated workflow creation is implemented, then resource utilization is optimized and errors are minimized, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex automated system is divided into modular components: individual cooking devices with embedded controllers, a network communication layer, and a central coordination system. Each device independently manages its own workflows while coordinating with others through standardized network protocols, making the overall system manageable despite its complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system performs multiple functions including workflow creation, resource allocation, cost calculation, and automated ordering. By integrating these diverse functions into a single multi-functional platform, the system achieves high productivity without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Reliability
If experienced personnel are relied upon for kitchen management, then quality control is maintained, but operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces the mechanical system of human expertise with an automated intelligent system that uses sensors, network communication, and algorithms to monitor and optimize cooking processes. This substitution maintains quality control through continuous automated monitoring while eliminating the need for highly paid experienced personnel.
Solution Approach 2:
An automated control system acts as an intermediary between the cooking devices and management functions. This intermediary automatically handles workflow coordination, resource allocation, and quality monitoring, providing expert-level management without requiring human experts physically present in the kitchen.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for creating at least one workflow in a system (1) of cooking devices (2, 3, 4), each having a display and input device (6, 7, 8) and connected via a network (5), wherein an external display and input device (9) is connected to the network (5), comprising the following steps: (a) entering a recipe via one of the display and input devices (6, 7, 8, 9), (b) entering a required quantity of food to be cooked based on the manual input of parameters according to the selection in step (a) or sending information from an inventory management system regarding a required quantity of food to be cooked based on the manual input of parameters according to the selection in step (a).(c) the processing of the input or information from step (b) by a cooking appliance, taking into account cooking processes stored in the cooking appliance and a stored capacity of the cooking appliance, wherein the cooking appliance calculates the ideal cooking processes and required appliance capacities, (d) the automatic creation of at least one workflow plan using required resources defined in the cooking appliance, in particular determined by energy, water, time and space, to lead to an energy-optimized process and/or maximum appliance utilization, and (e) the visualized display of the at least one generated workflow plan for the user on one of the display and input devices (6, 7, 8, 9).so that it becomes clear at what time the respective required cooking goods must be loaded into or unloaded from which cooking appliance(s).