The re-equipment cost nobody quotes
Induction needs the right pan. Your buffet has the wrong ones.
Induction heats ferrous metal and nothing else. Most existing buffet pans, and every foil pan, produce no heat at all.
An induction warmer works by inducing current in a magnetic pan. If the pan is not magnetic, nothing happens. Manufacturers' own instructions are explicit: use ferrous cookware, do not use aluminum foil, do not use china or synthetic containers.
What that means on a line
Aluminum hotel pans, foil catering trays, porcelain and melamine display pieces are all inert on induction. A venue moving to induction typically re-equips the pan stock, and finds that its disposable foil format is gone.
The hidden number
Add the pan replacement to the warmer quote, the electrician and the extension cords, and the induction line is rarely the cheap option it looked like.
What a cell does not care about
A heating cell warms whatever sits above it: stainless, aluminum, foil, porcelain, melamine. The pans you own are the pans you keep.