Nine companies join LonMark International as it expands coverage of quick service restaurant industry

May 24, 2011 – San Jose, California, USA – LonMark International, a non-profit international association recognized for the certification, education, and promotion of interoperability standards for control networking, experienced membership growth as a result of its successful LONCOM conference. Hosted at McDonald’s Hamburger University, the two-day LONCOM conference attracted suppliers, integrators and users of control systems based on LonWorks® control network technology and LonMark® open standards.

New LonMark members affiliated with energy efficiency software, restaurant equipment  and systems integration include Automated Equipment LLC, C-Tech Controls, Franke Foodservice Systems, GridNavigator Inc., Kitchen Brains, Phoenix Energy Technologies, Prince Castle LLC, Robinson Solutions and Serious Materials.

Several McDonald’s executives shared their perspectives on networked kitchen equipment and building automation systems, including Laurie Gilbert, vice president innovation with McDonald’s Corporation. “We are excited about the ability to monitor, anticipate and even act on issues before they impact the operation of our restaurants utilizing smart equipment and integrated restaurant technology,” said Gilbert.  “If the technology can enable the business to take care of itself, the restaurant manager and crew can focus more attention on our customers.”

Conference topics covered a broad spectrum of subjects including Compliance and Certification Requirements for Networked Restaurant Equipment, Business Case Opportunities For Restaurant Equipment, Energy Sustainability for Multi-Site Locations, Innovative Approaches to User Interface Selection and Design and Preparing Buildings for the Smart Grid. Presentations delivered at the LONCOM conference can be downloaded at http://www.lonmark.org/connection/presentations/2011/Q2/LONCOM.

Four LonMark Task Groups also met during the conference to develop interoperability profiles for building automation, automated food service equipment, lighting controls, and utility and energy equipment. The Automated Food Service Equipment Task Group devoted an entire day toward the development of profiles for restaurant equipment dealing with data collection for temperatures, equipment status, menus, safety, and energy efficiency. The Services Task Group made significant progress during its meeting developing functional profiles associated with scheduling, alarming, trending and overrides.

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LonMark International is an international, non-profit corporation supporting the testing and certification of products, people and companies supporting the ISO/IEC 14908-1 standard. Its nearly 400 members manufacture, distribute, develop, install or use systems based on this standard.  For more information about LonMark International please visit www.lonmark.org.

LONMARK, LONWORKS, and the LONMARK logo are registered trademarks of Echelon Corporation in the US and other jurisdictions.