Quality in Action: Cycle Time and the Drive-Through Customer
A reputable regional quick service restaurant prided themselves on cooked to order food, something that sounds counter intuitive to fast food. However, this company staked its reputation on this mantra and enjoyed a cult following with its customers. Actually, the food had to be wonderful because the length of time drive through customers were waiting to receive their order had become excessive by industry standards. The advent of the engagement was punctuated by the sponsor’s expectation that a considerable investment in technology was imminent. However, to the delight of the owners, the solution didn’t cost a dime. Six Sigma methodology was chosen to approach the challenge. The discipline produced two root causes for delayed cycle time, both of which were very interesting. One root cause was the discovery that store managers were provided erroneous cost accounting data that was relied on rationalize using only 50% of frying capacity—for a cook to order process! In reality, the cost of using the second fryer during peak time was a fraction of what was thought to be the true cost. The other root cause was uncovered by studying cycle times in a sample of restaurants: the cycle commenced when a car chose to enter the queue line, and ended when the car drove off with its order. About every sixth order was enormous against the mean and involved a made to order fried item. Not only did this suppress the cycle time of this specific order, but there was a hangover effect that impacted the cars behind the order. While the second fryer resolved some of the issue, the solution to the remaining component was to ask the driver to pull past the take-out window and the order would be delivered to the car. This enabled the cars behind the “issue” order to continue unabated. |