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For Marco Ferroni and his team at Lainox recognizing the positive effect of people power is essential for success, reports Andrea Tolu

Lainox is studying the role of technological innovation in the kitchen by listening to a wide variety of opinions. One of the opinions that had the greatest impact on us, and which we feel reflects us as a company is shown below... 

On April 19, 2017 Lainox launched its very own web TV dedicated especially to Lainox customers.

It’s no longer necessary for technicians to leaf through thousands of documents to find the correct exploded view and technical specifications to use to repair a stove.

At Sigep, Lainox presented a new device, especially made for pastry chefs and bakers. Aroma by Naboo.

Our interviewer asked Marco Ferroni, Executive Director for Lainox, for his first impressions.

It was truly a big surprise to see so many pastry chefs and bakers fascinated with the technology in Aroma by Naboo.

For its launch at Host, we had no doubts about the Naboo technology being well-received by food and catering professionals.   At Sigep, on the other hand, we were prepared for a more sceptical reaction from pastry chefs and bakers who are tied to more traditional products. We were pleasantly surprised by Aroma by Naboo's enormous success.

Professional pastry chefs especially appreciated the extreme ease of use of the Aroma by Naboo.  With its one touch technology, extremely complex cooking programs can be set with a simple touch of a button. This includes humidification during cooking, dehumidification of the chamber and fan rotation decrease.

The Lainox Cloud system was also appreciated by many due to its ability to inspire and guide pastry chefs in their daily activities. In fact, with the Cloud, they can consult recipes, get information on their history and use, follow the preparation step by step and get advice on aromatic cooking and display methods.
Aroma by Naboo's task is to create the perfect synchrony between the recipe and cooking to always ensure an excellent final result.

Aroma by Naboo takes up an average of 50% less space and guarantees 60% energy savings compared to traditional rotary or static ovens, thus allowing payback in less than 12 months.

Due to the incredible features found in Aroma by Naboo, our visitors were able to touch the new device, test its results and experience a truly emotional event.
The promise we made at Sigep is to continue to inspire our customers by always publishing new recipes arranged by theme, season and geographical area. This content is free and does not require any type of subscription.

A year after the creation of Naboo, it has many users who are inspired by the hundreds of national and international recipes afloat in the Lainox Cloud.

Our goal was to create a tool for cooking and to fill it with content that was constantly being updating and constantly evolving: Naboo represents the perfect synchronicity of the knowledge of dozens of national and international expert chefs and Lainox technology.

Each user has access not only to a cooking program, but also to all the information needed to properly prepare a given recipe: from its history, to its ingredients, to its procedures for preparation, and finally to its presentation; and, in addition, for more complex procedures for preparation, we have put at your disposal tutorial videos that can be accessed directly from Naboo.

Having become strong from the extraordinary success of these innovative services, we have continued to further exploit Cloud technology to provide Naboo users with a series of new opportunities that are completely free: the treasure chest, the cook’s portal, synchronization and remote service.

Treasure Chest on the Cloud

We thought about all of the chefs who, for professional reasons, must move from one kitchen to another, bringing along with them all of their recipes and personal notes… With the Treasure Chest, this will no longer be necessary because all they will need is access to a second Naboo where they may log on, and all of their personal content will become accessible right away.

Each user will have a free space on the Lainox Cloud where they may store all of their recipes and have a copy of their own Naboo settings.

The Cook’s Portal

Each Naboo user will have at his disposal a portal where he may— in a very simple way—create, modify, and refer to the recipes present in his own Naboo, also accessible from a tablet or smart phone. It will be as if he always has his Naboo with him.

Thanks to the cook’s portal, chefs can check on what is happening at their Naboos whenever they want and can activate them when they are not present, even at night, while remotely monitoring their functionality. Even downloading all data relative to HACCP may be done directly via the portal without, therefore, the need to necessarily be in front of the oven.

Synchronization

The idea to present this innovative service came about during Lainox’s thirtieth year as a restaurant chain.

For its genre of clientele, a “must” of fundamental importance is standardization: to produce the same dish with the same qualitative standards, whether in Milan, London or New York… This was the greatest challenge that the managers of these chains found themselves facing, above all, every time they needed to introduce new dishes or new menus.

The free synchronization service that Lainox puts at their disposal allows them to do all of this with a simple click from the comfort of their own office: a new recipe can be sent to all the restaurants connected directly by their Naboos. In addition, the recipe can be supplied with all of the information needed to carry it out: ingredients, preparation, automatic cooking program and description, and there will also be capability to attach a tutorial video for staff training.

The managers of a restaurant chain will now no longer need to move from one restaurant to another in a frenzied manner, but will instead be able to focus solely on quality control.

Remote Service

We asked ourselves: Why not take advantage of Cloud technology with regard to service as well?

For those in the restaurant business, getting an immediate response when it comes to technical service during business hours is of fundamental importance.

Starting tomorrow, in emergencies Naboo users will be able to easily call up their own remote service that, from a tablet, a PC, or a smart phone, can connect to the Naboo and provide an immediate response if it is a question regarding software, or mediation will be carried out with the correct replacement part if it is a hardware issue.

For a company involved in Food Service Equipment, the Service Department is the fundamental building block to offer excellent customer service from the technical point of view and complete support in managing the customer’s various needs.

We asked Giuliano Scarpa Service Director at Lainox how these levels can be reached and what are the goals.

Who is Giuliano Scarpa?

I was born in Venice in 1964 and I live in Mestre with my wife and daughter. My first job was in the computer industry, where I worked for over a decade. In 2000 I accepted a challenge by complete changing fields and becoming involved in food service equipment. The company had recently opened its Italian branch and in almost fifteen years I managed to developed a well-trained and long-established assistance network.  In 2014 I took on a new challenge, deciding to embark on this new adventure

What made you accept Lainox?

I always viewed LAINOX as demonstrating Italian excellence in the industry so when the project and product were presented to me, I discovered its technological level and, finding the solutions that I felt were necessary for the future, the choice was easy. The desire to take on new challenges and the opportunity to transfer my experience in an Italian company convinced me to take the opportunity that was offered.

What should the ideal service department in a company that works with Food Service Equipment be like?

In my opinion, it should aim to offer complete service to the customer, offering complete support that is not limited only to the technical aspect.

To ensure customer satisfaction we must understand and be knowledgeable of their needs. Our clients include restaurant owners, cooking centre supervisors and those who are responsible for equipment for a chain as well as dealers and help centres. 

Service should take care of their various needs, offering added value solutions in order to improve the use experience for the final customer and make loyal technical/commercial partners.

What are your short and medium term goals?

We are working on two fronts.  Internally we want to increase collaboration and information exchange between the other departments in order to share information, creating continuous product improvement. We have weekly quality meetings to discuss what is happening in the market and share solutions introduced in production. Externally we are preparing new agreements to be proposed to all our partners in order to define standards of service and lay out a path for growth. We are also working to renew and standardise training and find more opportunities to be close to our partners with the objective being to improve their skills, understand their needs and guide their growth.

Today Service is not only simply post-sales service but it often becomes crucial in product choice and greatly impacts sales. How do you intend to set Lainox's service apart from its competitors in the market?

The ultimate objective is to develop innovative services and offers. With the tools available today, we can already offer active control of the customer's units, but not all of our partners are capable of taking advantage of this potential. With future developments and adequate training, we continue to offer our customers a system that is able to monitor and proactively signal any abnormal situations in order to allow them to organise interventions before the customer calls. 

For those visiting Host, it will be impossible not to succumb to the allure of the Naboo Challenge.

This year, Lainox has decided to take on a huge responsibility, demonstrating all the limitations and downfalls of a traditional kitchen. Through a mix of multimedia contents and live demonstrations, Lainox will allow visitors to experience firsthand how this kitchen can evolve into the kitchen of the future, which is already here.

This concept, which goes by the name of Just Duet, is based on the use of two technologies developed by Lainox. One is the already famous and affirmed Naboo, a cooking appliance connected to the Lainox Cloud through a Wi-Fi system, allowing the simple and automatic execution of cooking processes normally performed in a traditional kitchen. The other is Neo, the new multipurpose appliance by Lainox that allows blast chilling, proofing, low temperature cooking, holding and thawing of food, as well as the possibility to be used as a genuine "holding cabinet" during service.

Just Duet, the new application concept by Lainox, consists in creating perfect synchronisation between Naboo and Neo, just like an orchestra composer in a musical duet.

This synchronisation brings to life complete menus for canteens, self-service, quick service and à la carte restaurants, using only these two appliances.

It's therefore not hard to understand how in any restaurant and catering business, a system like this would have a considerable impact on the reduction of management costs.

But we don't just want to talk about it, so to demonstrate how strongly we believe in this new kitchen project, on occasion of Host we've organised the Naboo Challenge.

The Just Duet system and our chefs will be put to the test. Every hour, visitors at our stand will randomly extract "the challenge", which will consist in developing either a banquet or à la carte service, or alternatively transforming into a quick service restaurant, all for 50 to 60 guests. 

Winning the challenge will mean serving guests in  less than 15 minutes using Just Duet, a 2 square metre kitchen.

All readers interested in putting our chefs to the test are kindly requested to make a booking by writing to antonella.daros@lainox.it. We look forward to meeting you in Hall 11P stand G28 H27.

With the arrival of summer, kitchens in the Lainox research and development department have been working double time to test and create new recipes to inspire Naboo users.

In fact, starting tomorrow, it will be child's play for the many chefs who own a Naboo to download summer recipes by Michele Cocchi and Alberto Marzocchi: "Cold rice salad with baby vegetables and smoked rump"  or to be captivated by the many offerings from international chefs: "Singapore Chili Crabs" for those who love exotic flavours.

It's easy to do. After completing a few simple steps to register, Naboo will be connected to the Cloud. Then the recipe can be chosen and downloaded to the Naboo.

The recipe will have all the information needed: ingredients, instructions, photos of the preparation and, naturally, how to cook it in the automatic cooking program.

All this will let chefs create the dish themselves. If they have any questions, they can call the toll-free number: 800 302 750 for the Lainox chefs.

The Cloud will also let the Naboo be updated automatically without the need for a USB drive or costly service calls.

Only with Naboo you can be truly connected!