Chief Global Strategist | Foodservice & Technology | M&A Advisory | LinkedIn TopVoice
Between 2016 and 2017, McDonald’s, KFC, Arby’s, and Taco Bell increased the number of items in their menus, and all but Taco Bell experienced longer wait times in drive-thrus. McDonald’s, the most extreme case, grew its menu by 34%, and drive-thru speed of service deteriorated by 15%. Though menu complexity is not the only factor affecting speed of service, it’s a major influence. Menu engineering needs to take a holistic approach, weighing the balance of offering guests more options and making transactions quick and convenient.
True.
Its not just complexity, it is process organization and JIT methods. In most quick serve restaurants, there is a statistical number of items of certain types to be prepared, given a certain time of day. To meet this statistical demand, many items are prepared prior to actual need/order. This makes the ability for quick serve to be so quick in serving. When additional options are provided (not necessarily additional menu items) such as the number and type of items that can be added or subtracted from the 'standard' menu item (e.g. hold the pickles, extra lettuce, etc.), you now introduce randomization into the statistical organization that is based around the core statistics and not the permutations. As such, it is more likely than not for this to slow down any operation. Couple that with a single queue such as a drive thru, and the problem is exacerbated. In-store orders can be worked in parallel with multiple orders being handled at the same time and the special order does not create the backlog. In the case of the drive thru, the statistical orders that are ready now must wait for the special order.?
Portillo's (based on Illinois) it is Fast, Complex AND made to order, anyhbody would be amazed....?? ?would anybody believe even McDonald's tried to imitate the Portillo's service system? https://www.portillos.com/portillos-101/ https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/portillos-hotdogs/
Excelente información. Gracias Aaron.
Great points. I also believe that growth in menu items create deteriorated quality of product and quality of service.
Field Operations Supervisor
6 年Whoa, I’ve felt the pain. Between poor service systems, complicated menu, and modifications it can be quite a task to keep a drive thru rolling. Tenured staff is the best way to get it done.