In 2019, commercial kitchen equipment leader Middleby Corporation acquired an IoT-based software company outside of Boston, Powerhouse Dynamics. This unlikely pairing is a partnership made for the 21st century smart commercial kitchen. Powerhouse Dynamics developed an equipment and energy management system, SiteSage, designed to save time, money and energy for multisite foodservice operators.
Last fall, the company introduced the next generation of its connected equipment and food safety application of SiteSage, Open Kitchen. Open Kitchen by SiteSage is an open platform that connects commercial kitchen equipment to the cloud, providing remote access to not only Middleby equipment, but other brands as well, resulting in critical data collection that informs real-time performance monitoring.
A new standard
Foodservice operators and retailers are afforded a single view of their kitchen operations across all locations and all equipment, regardless of brand. Open Kitchen enables users to optimize equipment and overall kitchen performance to increase revenue, lower operating costs, increase equipment uptime, protect food safety and quality, and reduce food waste.
Open Kitchen by SiteSage has the potential to revolutionize commercial kitchen operations by connecting and monitoring a full range of kitchen equipment from multiple brands. It also remotely tracks – in real-time – how the equipment is performing and how it is being utilized by staff, enables remote recipe creation and distribution, and automates essential food safety processes – all on a single platform.
“With Open Kitchen, we are creating a new standard for IoT-based solutions in the commercial kitchen market,” said Martin Flusberg, president of Powerhouse Dynamics. “Operators want a single view into all of their locations; they don’t want to login to a different system for each piece of equipment. Open Kitchen by SiteSage connects equipment from virtually any brand and brings all that critical information together so customers can make swift and data-driven performance decisions. Open Kitchen opens up endless possibilities for optimal efficiency.”
Open Kitchen enables users to:
- Monitor food prep and storage temperatures 24/7 via both direct equipment connectivity and self-installable wireless sensors;
- Leverage real-time, escalating alerts to be warned about situations where food is not being stored or prepared at the proper temperatures or prepared for the right amount of time;
- View proactive, configurable exception reports to spot equipment that may not be performing properly, consuming (oil, water, sanitizer, etc.) more than it should be, or not being operated properly;
- Easily digitize checklists and capture temperature data that cannot be automated (using a Bluetooth probe) with a highly configurable mobile app that can even be used offline;
- Track corrective actions taken – or not taken;
- Fully automate HACCP food safety reporting, and easily archive, search and distribute reports;
- Remotely distribute recipes and menus to ovens, fryers and other critical equipment; and
- Track warranties on kitchen equipment.
Unlike other manufacturer-specific connectivity applications, Open Kitchen by SiteSage is truly open and works across all equipment brands, giving operators the flexibility to choose the right equipment for their kitchen and avoiding the hassle of multiple software tools to manage equipment. Open Kitchen connects to more equipment brands than any other system. More than 10,000 pieces of cooking equipment are currently connected, and that number grows every day.
Open Kitchen is part of the broader SiteSage platform that can also be used to monitor energy usage and control equipment – both in the kitchen and in all other parts of the facility – to further enhance equipment performance, significantly reduce energy and other operating costs, and enable enterprise facility optimization.
