Results from our case study with Hilton DoubleTree in Monrovia
Hotels are increasingly leveraging technology products to streamline operations and remove friction points that cause frustration to both customers and employees. To expand the guest experience in their Monrovia location, DoubleTree just signed a 3-year contract with TUFF, following their free trial. TUFF’s product, LINK, can assist staff with waiting, bussing, serving and delivering, bringing out the true return on every employee investment. LINK was set up in the hotel dining room to bus dirty dishes and utensils from the dining room to the kitchen – with a smile of course.
LINK can detect tight spaces and movement in any environment real-time utilizing TUFF’s robust cloud-connected AI software. This cutting-edge data processing capability allows LINK to reliably carry items through staff, tables, and customers with precision. Management can also remotely reconfigure LINK’s path and functions if any changes are made to the floor plan and check on the battery life – showcasing how efficiency and convenience are at the forefront of TUFF’s innovations.
DoubleTree was impressed with the return-on-investment data during their free trial. LINK proactively clocked 275 hours throughout 30 days, saving them over $3,500/month. Additional usage data showed that by removing the repetitive task of carrying dishes between the kitchen and dining room, LINK saved his fellow employees over 60 hours and 466 trips. Food & Beverage Director Ryan, said: “Empowering our employees with robots that are always ready to help provided much needed relief to our staff during these chaotic times. The fact that they don’t call in sick allows us to provide consistent service even as our shift schedule rapidly changes.”
Our mission is not to replace workers, but to allow them to spend more time on meaningful tasks. Employee retention and productivity has taken a huge hit during COVID, and many people are uncomfortable with filling customer-facing roles that have high exposure rates. This has created an increasingly larger labor gap for most hospitality staffing needs that are vital for our quality of life and economy, and we are here to make sure that they have affordable solutions that don’t drive up prices for their customers. We are incredibly proud of our success with DoubleTree, and are having ongoing conversations to expand our partnership by addressing more customer pain points using our robotics fleet.
There is not an easy way that exists for businesses to find and retain staff. TUFF goes beyond distributing robots, using direct customer feedback about an establishment’s pain points to build and iterate products to suit individual needs. DoubleTree Monrovia General Manager Matthew shared: “TUFF was with us every step of the way. We asked for multiple changes in our setup during our free trial, and even though we had paid them nothing, they never hesitated to show up and helped us adjust as we discovered how to best integrate robotics into our workflow. We feel confident that they are the right technology partner for our needs as this industry evolves rapidly.