Kiosk maker EMN8 today announced a partnership with IBM that will have the companies jointly manufacture, market and support EMN8's order-and-pay kiosks. EMN8 caters primarily to the quick-serve and fast casual restaurant segments.
According to a news release from EMN8, the company will transition production of its flagship self-order kiosk, the OrderM8, to IBM. The companies plan to develop future generations of kiosk products together.
EMN8 says both companies will reap unique benefits from the agreement:
 | The arrangement will marry the companies' mutual focus on innovation to provide a broader range of state-of-the-art hardware options for their clients. Under the mutual marketing initiative, IBM sales representatives can now offer their clients EMN8's compelling self-service solution, as well as future generations of products developed jointly by the two companies. In addition, a key component of the agreement is EMN8's ability to leverage IBM's TotalStore services, including kiosk deployment, help desk, training, proactive health checks, depot and on-site mainteneance provided by IBM's Global Technology Services. |  |
Perse Faily, CEO of EMN8, says the partnership will allow the companies to offer competitive pricing in a growing market during challenging times:
| Our business is growing rapidly. IBM's high-volume, high-quality production and extensive service capabilities are key ingredients for serving the needs of a quickly growing kiosk market, as well as meeting the rigorous demands of the QSR and fast casual environments. With IBM's production and service capabilities and our marketing model, we both can offer attractive pricing to our clients — critically important in a tight economic environment. | |
