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Operational Difference Between Mcdonald's and Burger King Essay

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Operational Differences Between McDonald’s & Burger King McDonalds (McD’s) and Burger King (BK) are key players in the fast food industry and have been competing for many years. They both provide similar food that is prepared quickly for a low price. So what sets them apart? The difference between McD’s and BK is their corporate culture – operational management. The manufacturing method at McD’s follows the “Doing It All For You” versus “Having It Your Way” at BK. The “Made to Stock” strategy at McDonald’s depends on an inventory of products, with great emphasis on the standard sized patties, which are made prior to processing a customer order. This means that when a sale is made and food delivered to the customer, the products in …show more content…

BK, on the other hand, uses the continuous chain broiler, with a capacity of 8 burgers per chain, where no human intervention is necessary because the patties enter the broiler on one end and come out on other end after 80 seconds. Furthermore, sandwich dressing is standardized at McD’s with lever based dispensers and portion controlled condiments. At BK, sandwich dressing is handled by employees using plastic squeeze bottles without pre-measured quantities. The lack of portion-controlled condiments at BK can result in different taste and quality of products in addition to wastage. Exhibit 5 and 6 reveal the operating results for McD’s and BK, respectively. McD’s is ahead of the game in the sandwich dressing department, Exhibit 6 shows that BK spends 1.1% of their sales in condiments wastage. BK also uses microwave ovens to maintain the “Made to Order” warm and fresh burgers. The use of microwave ovens result in a 2.1% increase in utility cost compared to McD’s. On the other hand, the cost of food at McD’s is 1.9% higher compared to BK because McD’s keeps finished goods inventory in a bin for 10 minutes before they are discarded. In addition, the paper used to wrap the burger contributes to higher food cost of 0.9% at McD’s. During peak periods, the batch process at McDonald’s relies on employees working effectively in a team. Efficiency is a key determinant in customer satisfaction. Workers are motivated to help each to keep operations running smoothly. The

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