Burger King and McDonalds are both leading fast food brands that rely on facility structures to serve customers. Burger King employs a process facility layout in which equipment is laid out according to the functions. In the layout, equipment and kitchen is meant to cater for a more dynamic menu. McDonalds employs a product facility layout in which materials move in one direction in the same pattern. The service process begins with ordering, after which the order goes step by step in one direction to the collection point. The facility layout of both companies is associated with the make-to-stock as well as the assemble-to-order aspects as a way to serve the customers. The process layout enables Burger King to produce many different products and the resources in use are general purpose hence ensures a balance of activities is achieved for flexibility and to increase productivity (da Silva & Cardoza, 2010). The process layout, however, is more labor intensive and slower in processing customer requests. The product layout means McDonalds produces a small number of products considering that resources are specialized thus ensuring efficiency in processing customer requests. The specialization of resources enables the business to process large volumes of product flows and serve customers based on a definite period of time (da Silva & Cardoza, 2010).
McDonald’s supply chain is focused on specialized technology and effective inventory management practices. McDonalds runs a web site that is devoted to provide information about locations and the available products. The company relies on configuring the web site as a key supply chain linkage as technology makes it easy to locate the restaurants and orders thus ensuring system responsiveness. This allows the company to handle inventory and shipping duties effectively. The specialized technology seeks to reduce costs by standardizing processes to ensure fast delivery of services. In addition, each part of the technology applications is characterized by safety and quality checks from the collection from farms to delivery to customers. The technology employed is easy to use for customers with customer-friendly interfaces to increase responsiveness and add value by making the ordering process last only a short time so that customers can focus on other business. It also allows the customers to make orders from their vehicles.
The aspects of leadership, use of technology, and customer service experience are areas of effectiveness that can improve the competitive position of a company. This is because they are associated with developing new innovative ideas that are oriented towards serving the customers efficiently. On the other hand, value deficiencies, social concerns/customer attitude, and deficiencies of portfolio matrixes can adversely affect the competitive advantage. This is because customers can easily choose alternatives when the company is not giving them value and to serve their needs. To improve these deficiencies, companies need to focus on the use of information technology and innovation. IT and innovation have the potential to be a strategic weapon by improving productivity and performance and enabling new ways of managing and organizing processes (Hemmatfar, Salehi, & Bayat, 2010). For example, some fast food companies have adopted mobile application platforms that allow users to order food stuff after which they are delivered according to a planned schedule. These applications are convenient for customers and also allow the businesses to reach the customers in real time.
References
da Silva, A. L., & Cardoza, E. (2010). Critical Analysis of Layout Concepts: Functional Layout, Cell Layout, Product Layout, Modular Layout, Fractal Layout, Small Factory Layout. XVI International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management: Challenges and Maturity of Production Engineering: competitiveness of enterprises, working conditions, environment. São Carlos, SP, Brazil, 12 to 15 October 2010.
Hemmatfar, M., Salehi, M., & Bayat, M. (2010). Competitive Advantages and Strategic Information Systems. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(7), 158-169.
