SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM SYSTEM

Soft serve ice cream is a delicious frozen treat loved by many. However, customer accessibility is limited to establishments able to house large soft serve machines and have adequate staff available to clean, maintain, and serve. Currently, available machines are bulky, costly, break easily, and require a lot of hands-on maintenance. Customers are also limited to only a couple of flavors per machine.

A leading ice cream company approached Synectic Product Development to develop a commercial-grade system that could take a prepackaged ice cream pouch and squeeze it into a cone or cup for the customer. Synectic’s task was to assess the existing novel concept, develop the design, and create a functional prototype ready for manufacturing. This endeavor required a collaborative effort from our entire engineering staff that included:

• Creating a design that would meet the customer’s needs.
• Fabricating one beta unit for testing
• Conducting mechanical and electrical tests to determine the optimal parameters for the machine, pouch, and dispensing ice cream.
• Designing a functional enclosure that incorporates human factors design details, ensuring the system is optimized for minimal human interaction and ease of use.
• Collaborating with our quality team to comply with regulatory agencies, such as food safety regulations and UL standards.
• Developing GUI screens that provide instructions for use, advertise flavors, and collect statistical data that can be uploaded via Wi-Fi.

Ultimately, several “looks-like, works-like” gamma prototypes were designed and built for Voice of Customer feedback. These prototypes integrated all necessary regulatory, human factors, mechanical, and electronic features, resulting in a comprehensive solution poised to revolutionize soft serve ice cream dispensing.