As the fast - service nutrient industry continue to look toward mechanisation to streamline ordination processing and minimize the role human employee roleplay behind the buffet , it ’s interesting to remark that the seasoned kick drug peddler at Taco Bell were well ahead of the curve . In the 1990s , the company developed and establish the Taco - Matic , a jumbo motorcar that could assemble their classic taco in simple seconds .
According to aThrillistinvestigation , the greaser chain was experiencing such speedy growth in the ‘ 90s that executives get down looking toward increasing kitchen efficiency . The company ’s engineers developed the Automatic Taco Machine ( or ATM ) , a giant , stainless - steel solid food assembly appliance that could spit out 900 tacos an hour , or one every four seconds . The auto layer on meat , loot , tomatoes , and other topping before depositing it allinto a wrapper .
Taco Bell
In apatent app , Taco Bell described the process :
The social unit were install in three Southern California Taco Bell locations in 1992 . Once they were in mental process , the society was surprised to find it had inadvertently trade in efficiency for consumer satisfaction . The tacos spit out by the machine seemed to combine the ingredient in a path that customers did n’t like . There was something “ off ” about the gustatory modality that was mistily defined but impossible . Taco satisfaction levels plummeted .
Taco Bell was also dismayed to learn that there was no quick localization for the car breaking down , a job that could near stall a placement ’s supply until it was remediate . The troupe halted plans for a taco robot rotation . Today , only one political machine remains in a storage way at their incarnate headquarters in Irvine , California .
[ h / tThrillist ]
