Rent-a-robot option gaining popularity in urban centres

Jeremy Ng with one of the robots that are commonly used in restaurants.

JOHOR BARU: Rent-a-robot is becoming a trend, especially for businesses that want to cut labour costs.

The demand is high in places such as Kuala Lumpur, George Town and Johor Baru, said Jeremy Ng, a business development manager of a robotics company.

“Kuala Lumpur is adapting to the technology very fast. This is partly because the wages in the city are higher compared to other places,” he said.

These robots, he said, allow businesses to save cost by not having to hire too many workers.

Companies supplying the technology are now allowing customers to rent robots instead of buying them at full price.

Ng said the option to rent the robots was made available early last year following high interest among businesses.

So instead of spending at least RM35,000 for a single unit, he said they could rent it with a monthly payment of between RM1,500 and RM2,000.

“They can decide how long they want to rent it. And if they feel that it works well then they could consider buying it later,” he said.

Ng said the robots could perform tasks such as delivering food to tables, carrying a large number of dishes at one time, directing customers to specific locations within a building and providing information.

“For now, a majority of businesses that are keen to use the robots are those in the food and hotel industries.

“However, we also have customers from malls, hospitals and factories,” he said.

Ng cited the situation in Penang where the use of robots had started in nasi kandar restaurants during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Back then, these restaurants lost many workers after they returned to their home countries. The practice of maintaining physical distance also encouraged the use of such robots.

“In Johor, robots are most beneficial to the hotel industry as it is facing a lack of manpower with many locals moving to other places to pursue their careers,” he said.

Malaysian Association of Hotels Johor chapter chairman Ivan Teo said apart from recruiting part-timers during busy periods, hotels as well as the food and beverage industry are turning to robots.

“The use of robots has helped some hotels and restaurants cope with the manpower issue. It is also relatively cheaper compared to hiring a worker.

“It costs RM1,500 to RM2,000 a month to rent a robot. For now, the only task is to deliver food to the tables. We still need workers for other areas,” he said.