Maintaining & Improving Operations Research Paper

Maintaining & Improving Operations - Research Paper Example Cold chain ensures that the integrity of the food is maintained and the nutritional value and freshness of the food is retained. The pull-supply chain has enhanced the effectiveness and the efficiency of McDonald’s. The supply chain is further characterized by the adoption and implementation of technology. The fast-food restaurants have implemented the demand chain planning to enhance the delivery of their services. Maintaining & Improving Operations McDonald’s Background In 1937, Maurice and Richard McDonald created McDonald’s at a small drive-in restaurant in the east of Pasadena in California. The two brothers were able to develop assembly line and food processing techniques. In 1954, Ray Kroc (a milkshake-mixer salesperson) saw as chance and made a franchise deal with the McDonald’s which provided him with special rights to franchise McDonald’s products in America (Tassiopoulos, 2009). The business enterprise of Ray Kroc was based on the basic p rinciples of Q.S.C. &V. (Quality, Service, Cleanliness, and Value) (Svoboda, 1995). Harry Sonneborn (a business partner with Ray Kroc), introduced a method for leasing stores in 1956; the franchisees were to be sub-leased the stores at a premium of 40 percent. Finally, McDonald’s bought land for the franchisees. Eventually, McDonald’s became the world’s biggest owner of retail property. ... There are two categories of suppliers that supply food ingredients, Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers. Processors and growers (mainly poultry farms, potato and lettuce growers, and companies that produce coating systems that coat chicken and vegetable patties) make up Tier-2 suppliers. Tier-1 suppliers are supplied with the ingredients and process them, for example, into potato products such as potato hash browns, wedges, and French fries (McCain Foods India Pvt. Ltd does the processing), or into chicken and vegetable patties (they are processed by Vista Processed Foods Pvt. Ltd.). The effectiveness of the McDonald’s supply chain is attributed to the unique idea of outsourcing work. The supply chain of the company is 100 percent outsourced. The company believes in outsourcing everything to people who are experts in the subject matter (Cheema, 2011). A remarkable feature of McDonald’s supply chain is a network that consists of the movement of goods via a cold chain. The cold c hain is important because it maintains the integrity of the food products and it retains their nutritional value and freshness (Kulkarni and Lassar, 2009). The cold chain is made up of the suppliers and in other cases the lettuce growers. In general, the cold chain starts with the Tier-2 suppliers. It is worth noting that the cold chain has an innovative and interesting feature; this feature permits the same truck to carry products at various temperatures. These products include frozen products (temperature ranges from -18C to -25C), chilled products (temperature ranges from 1C to 4C) and dry products (carried at ambient temperatures). It is important to note that McDonald’s is the only organization that has successfully