Parts Town Adds Image Recognition to Restaurant Supplies App

PartsMatchRestaurant equipment parts may seem an unlikely are for mobile innovation, but Parts Town, which specializes in the distribution of said items, has deployed sophisticated image recognition technology as part of an upgrade to its iOS app of the same name.

The app employs PartsMATCH image recognition algorithms to compare customer-submitted pictures of a part against hundreds of thousands of PartSPIN images to find a match. While the technology is in its infancy and still evolving, Parts Town said it is committed to pushing the envelope with unique customer solutions. The Image recognition engine was developed by Kuznech, which specializes in creating object recognition technologies for mCommerce applications.

“Image recognition is being used in fields like national security, social networking, and retail,” said Parts Town director of eCommerce, Mike O’Shea. “As we’ve done with other industry innovations such as PartSPIN, we applied an external technology to solve a parts-related problem. This feature reinforces our commitment to drive the industry forward, and we will continue to refine and improve it over the coming months.”

PartsMATCH Assistant applies a human touch to the same parts identification challenge. Customers can submit parts identification requests from the app, including pictures of the part, then receive push notifications direct to their device as soon as a PartsMATCH specialist has located their matching part.

While currently available for iOS only, an Android version of the app is being readied for release.