McDonald’s was successful throughout the first two decades after it was first introduced to customers. Nonetheless, in the mid-1980s, the company started dragging behind as the business became a bit more dynamic. This situation required McDonald’s to implement a novel approach. This is how the “Made for You” kitchen system appeared. This system was aimed at improving food quality, introducing the menu items in an easier way, and providing exceptional customer service. The key idea of that approach was that each meal was prepared exclusively and the whole order was made on the spot. All of the operational and customer requirements were followed in the new system. McDonald’s administration explored a number of new technologies with the intention of implementing critical changes into the current system. The main objective of the company was to find a way to cook food faster and provide the customer withe high-quality food at the same time. McDonald’s management and staff had to engage into the learning process and find the ways to improve the company’s processes.
There were five major key criteria that defined the goals of the “Made for You” kitchen system. Those criteria included service (60-second delivery after the order has been made), food quality, and food preparation (easier cooking patterns allowing the employees to prepare the food much quicker than before). It is also important to take into consideration the staff (increasing job satisfaction among the employees) and profitability (minimizing the costs and increasing customer satisfaction at the same time). Combined, these five criteria turned out to be the custom recipe for McDonald’s success. The company was able to do whatever it took in order to comply with all the essential requirements. The way in which these five criteria of success were followed defined the success of the McDonald’s brand and proved the fact that a JIT technique may be useful in the food industry as well.
The new “Made for You” kitchen utilized a computerized approach that allowed the company to identify the customers’ purchasing patterns and helped the new system to predict the upcoming purchases and generate the orders for the best-selling products. This was intended to help the employees to be ahead of schedule during the busy hours. Another important aspect of this forecasting system was the ability to monitor the employees’ output. In other words, the “Made for You” forecasting system was designed to accomplish two key goals: employee efficiency and accurate order prediction. This system boosted all the vital characteristics of the company.
McDonald’s administration believes that the forecasting system used by the company is one of the best in the market. Since the first implementation of the McDonald’s forecasting system, the company has been able to seriously improve the quality of their service and enrich McDonald’s customer base. This can be explained by the perfect balance between the particularities of the supply chain planning and the growing popularity of new products. The actions that were taken by McDonald’s impacted the resulting complexity of the system, but the forecasting system proved to be profitable and efficient at all of the production stages. Lately, the demand for McDonald’s has increased dramatically, and one of the explanations is the correct use of the forecasting system that turned out to be the game-changing asset for the franchise.