The Franke A600 is a self service commercial superautomatic coffee machine built for sites that pour a lot of coffee without a barista: larger offices, hotels, and venues where people help themselves. Panica Coffee installs and services Franke machines across Melbourne, and this is an honest assessment of where the A600 fits, where it is more machine than a site needs, and what to check before committing to one.
What is the Franke A600?
The A600 is a fully automatic bean to cup machine. It grinds, brews and textures milk at one button press, so staff and guests make their own drinks without training. Franke publishes a capacity figure in the region of 250 cups per day for the model, which places it in the higher volume end of workplace equipment rather than the cafe end.
Recipes are programmable, which matters more than it sounds in a self service setting, because it means the flat white a guest gets at 7am is the same one they get at 4pm.
What it does well
Consistency is the strongest argument for it. In a venue where dozens of people operate the machine and none of them are trained, a programmable superautomatic removes the variation entirely.
The second is throughput. A machine at this level recovers quickly between drinks, which is what decides whether a queue forms after a meeting or a breakfast service, rather than the daily total.
Not sure whether you need this much machine? Panica Coffee can size a setup against your busiest twenty minutes and tell you honestly whether a smaller model would serve you just as well.
Where it is more machine than you need
For a team of 15 to 25 people, the A600 is usually more capacity than the site will ever use, and capacity you do not use is capacity you are paying for. A smaller machine will serve that office comfortably and take up less bench.
It also needs the space and the infrastructure to suit. Check bench depth, power and whether you want it plumbed before the machine arrives, which our guide to office coffee machine plumbing covers.
Cleaning and servicing
A machine at this level is not maintenance free. The milk system needs its daily routine, and scheduled servicing and descaling keep the brew group and boiler in condition. In a self service site the daily clean needs to belong to a role rather than a person, because the person who knows it may not be on shift.
Under a Panica Coffee rental the servicing sits inside the arrangement, as set out in what is included in an office coffee machine service plan. Filtration matters too, since scale is the most common cause of faults in any commercial machine.
How it compares with other brands
Panica Coffee supplies Franke, Dr Coffee and Saeco. Franke generally suits the heaviest duty and the most demanding self service sites, while the other two cover workplaces where the volume is lower and the budget is a real constraint. Our comparison of Franke, Dr Coffee and Saeco goes through the differences.
Get a Free Coffee Machine Recommendation
Tell Panica Coffee how many people you serve, how the demand arrives and where the machine will sit. We will tell you whether the A600 suits the site or whether a different machine fits better. Call 1300 529 505 or use the form below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How many cups can the Franke A600 make per day? Franke publishes a figure in the region of 250 cups per day. Treat that as a guide and size against your busiest twenty minutes, since peak demand is what creates queues.
Q2: Does it need a barista? No. It is a superautomatic, so it grinds, brews and textures milk at one button press. That is the point of it for self service sites.
Q3: Is the A600 suitable for a small office? Usually it is more than a small office needs. A team of 15 to 25 is generally better served by a smaller machine.
Q4: Does it need plumbing? Check the configuration when you quote it. A plumbed supply suits a self service site because it removes tank refilling from a space nobody owns.
Q5: Can we rent rather than buy one? Yes. Renting includes the servicing, which matters on a machine that is used heavily and by everyone.
Considering a Self Service Machine?
Tell Panica Coffee about your site, your volume and how the coffee is served. We will recommend a machine that matches the demand. Call 1300 529 505.