OPERATION MANAGEMENT (specialize in comparative operation management - Essay Example

KFC VS MC Donald's The purpose of this paper is to assess the operational efficiency /inefficiency of Mc Donald's as compared to KFC. Both are in neck-to-neck competition and are leading franchises of the world.Mc Donald'sApparently behind the counter, Mc Donald's team looks somewhat like an assembly line whereby jobs have been cut into smaller chores for team members which makes it simpler and easier to maintain the workflow. Behind the counter, there are usually five people working side by side on a U shaped table so that the first person in the sandwich assembly line is on one side and the last person on the other side of the u -shaped table.

This way of working is good because it minimizes movement.Counter: -Customer walks in and places order, the duplicate receipt is passed on while customer makes payment and waits.Step1:Inside, behind the counter where one person takes note of the order and performs the first step. If it is a chicken burger he takes the pre-prepared buns and passes the buns to the next team member along with the order duplicate receipt. Step2: The second person, stationed next to the first one, applies salad leaves with mayonnaise on the bunStep3: the bun is passed on to the third person who puts in the chicken patties and cheese in the burger.

Step 4:The half made bun is passed on to the fourth person who sets up the tray and seals the bun with a toothpick.Step5: the tray is passed onto the next person who puts in the tissue.Back to Counter: An assistant to the cashier takes the tray, asks which drinks to be served, fills the drinks and hands the order tray to the customer.Total Lead-time= 2-3minutes off peak hours, peak hours 4-5minutes.KFCCustomer walks to the counter, places order; order is conveyed to the workforce inside the kitchen.

Behind The CounterThe nature of offerings of KFC is different from McDonald's in the sense that majority of KFC's ingredients include deep fried wholesome chicken pieces and fries. Immediately behind the counter, there is a temporary storage of ready to serve chicken pieces, in temperature controlled glass environment. This serves the purpose of Work in Progress Inventory.Step1: duplicate order receipt passed behind the counter to the kitchen.Step 2: the first person in the production line reads order and passes the raw, materials to the next level.

For example if it is chicken pieces, then he passes the full pieces, if its hot shots he passes the right amount to the net level.Step 3: The next person in line takes the ingredients from the previous section and prepares the sandwich and adds garnishing and passes on to net levelStep4: the person next in line puts fries into the right size packetsStep5: The next person in line takes the order, assembles it in a tray with tissue papers.Step6: Order is passed onto the counterLead time 5-7mins.

Process Flow KFC VS MC Donald's-A comparative studyIt can be seen that the operations of KFC are almost similar to the operations of Mc Donald's. As mentioned earlier, the primary difference between KF and Mc Donalds' offering is that all KFC offerings contain chicken. As per quality policy the chicken has to be fresh. Due to this the role of Temporary Storage (behind counter)is very crucial for KFC. It has to satisfy the following requirements:Temperature controlledAir tightCleanlinessThe usual wait time of KFC i.e. 5-7 minutes can only be maintained if the temporary storage is working perfectly.

Mc Donald's on the other hand relies on patties that are already processed. They just have to warm them and prepare the burger. Due to this , Mc Donald's is less reliant on temporary storage.In effect, KFC's operations start before step 1, (appendix 2), when the chicken pieces are friend and shifted to temporary storage.Mc Donald's has and advantage on KFC in the sense that it does not require too much movement of workers as the sandwich is processed along a line of processing. KFC roughly practices the same line as well but the difference is that chicken is being friend in the same place and that chicken has to be shifted to temporary storage which requires movement of workers.

This creates a scenario that in rush hour workers may bump into each other.SuggestionsIn this regard, KFC should try and reduce movement of workers by having a glass storage line of chicken where the worker needs to stuff it i.e. maybe in the centre of the adjoining tables of burger processing line rather than the temporary storage behind the counter.MC DONALDS PROCESS FLOW CHARTKFC PROCESS FLOW CHART