Just heard someone discussing Littles Law, and it made me think of this! Seems an age ago, rooted in the MBA classic that is 'Benihana' - applying those basic principles to a McDonalds in Dubai!

1. Venue Group Facility
Dubai 3 McDonald’s (Media City
Home Centre Student Number Name
Dubai 9345159 Stuart Lunn
Dubai 9301826 James Munson
UK 9258114 Oluyemisi Ehikioya
Dubai 9320490 Oluyemisi Ayodeji Megbope

2. Brief background
Established May 15, 1940 by Maurice and Richard McDonald, McDonald
Corporation currently has the largest chain of restaurants serving fast food in
119 countries to over 68 million customers daily.
* Restaurant location; Media City, Dubai
It is registered on the New York Stock
Exchange with a share price of US$ 96.30
and is headquartered in Oak Brook,
Illinois.

3. Mission Statement
“To be our customers favourite place and way to eat and drink”
Values
At McDonald’s we…
• place the customer experience at the core of all we do
• are committed to our people
• believe in the McDonald’s system
• operate our business ethically
• give back to our communities
• grow our business profitably
• strive continually to improve
McDonald (2013) Company Information. Available at: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mission_and_values.html
(Accessed: 25 March 2014).

4. Strategy
Over the last 3 years, McDonald strives to provide process standardization
across all its global operations.
In 2013, McDonald embarked on a global strategy called “Plan to Win”, which
center on an exceptional customer experience focusing on quick and fast
service. This initiative is around 5 pillars;
1. People
2. Products
3. Place
4. Price
5. Promotion
Zaidan (2013)

5. THE FOUR Vs of PROCESSES
• Volume: This is high. 105 customers place 53 orders attended to within one hour (an order
was placed every 67 seconds)
• Variety: Low variety. Menu is made up of burgers, fries, salads, McWraps, drinks and ice
cream
• Variation: Low. Because of predictably constant demand
• Visibility: is relatively high when compared to overall process
High
Low
Low
Low
Low
High
High
High
All four dimensions have implications for processing costs. Slack et al (2013)

6. Layout
- Slack et al (2013) refer to 4 basic layouts that can be observed when considering
the impact of the ‘4 V’s’ on processes.
- McDonald’s has relatively low variety, considering the set times it operates its
breakfast menu / main menu respectively
- Many examples of similar companies attempting to create classic flow line under
these circumstances (Starbuck’s, Subway etc)
Typical flow of a Starbucks
★ Order Taken
★ Order Processed
★ Payment

7. Layout
- McDonald’s in Media
City has a successful
‘product layout’ for it’s
goods.
- clear flow for fries,
sandwiches and drinks
from point of purchase.
Production is geared to
efficient throughput,
however….
www.mcdonalds.com/inside_our_kitchens

8. Layout
- Poor layouts can greatly reduce the overall capacity and overall productivity.
Therefore great care must be taken by an organisation when designing layout.
(Bicheno, 2002; p121)

9. Layout
- A product layout, with standardised requirements
- Insufficient consideration of the impact of queuing
- Reducing capacity of the outlet, and a problem that will worsen…

10. S
t
o
r
e
Store Size – 4000 Sqft (Exc External Seating)
Internal Space Split – 60% Seating, 40% Kitchen
Seating Area – 40 Covers (20 Tables of 2)
Over 90% of customer chose “Take Away”
Three Till Points
1. Welcome
2. Place Order
3. Take
Payment
4. Order
Processed
5. Collect
Order
1. Welcome
2. Place Order
3. Take
Payment
4. Order
Processed
5. Collect
Order
1. Welcome
2. Place Order
3. Take
Payment
4. Order
Processed
5. Collect
Order

11. Little’s Law Units Result
Throughput Time Sec 3600
Work in Progress Orders 53
Cycle Time (CT) Sec/Orders 67.92
Area Average Minimum Max Standard Dev.
Customer Arrival 43.7 2 214 38
Queue Time 1.7 0 30 5
Transaction Time 36.6 13.01 100.1 17
Order Wait 71.1 25 166 34
Total Time 109.3 53.6 221.1 38
Results from Study – 14:30 – 15:30, 25th March 2014
• Average order fulfilled in 107.6 Seconds
• Three Till Points Resulting in an ability to process a customer every 35.9 Seconds
• Significant Variation of customer arrival time & Order fulfillment
• Bottleneck at order fulfillment.
• Capacity of 100 Customers at current transaction time
• Over capacity 47%.

12. Observations
• Evident process training in place.
• Production process of food was efficient – Pull Control, minimum inventory
• Till Utilization = Processing Rate / (Arrival Rate * Number of Stations)
• 107.6 / (43.7*3) = 82%
• “Inventory” of customers waiting for their order
• Lack of customer flow preventing faster transaction times
• Confusion with customers understanding the queue system resulting in slower
processing times.
• Queue manager in place, but not always perceived as effective (Durrande-Moreau, 1998)
• Insufficient space for processing of orders, resulting in blocked till points

13. Recommendation
• Create a flow order process which;
• Create a leaner process
• Will improve customer navigation and understanding
• Will reduce bottleneck increasing speed
• Potentially could lead to a reduction of headcount
• Could reduce system robustness
• Incentivise customers to use the delivery service during peak hours
• Decreasing pressure on front of house space

14. S
t
o
r
e
Recommended customer service flow
1. Welcome
2. Place Order
3. Process Order
4. Take Payment
5. Collect Order

15. Appendix
Restrictions
• Based upon 1 hour of observation
• Unable to understand operation behind the line of visibility
• Unable to determine the level of trade from McDelivery

16. References
Bichenoj J (2012) The Service Systems Toolbox: Integrating lean thinking, systems thinking
and design thinking. Buckingham, PICSIE Books
McDonald (2013) Company Information. Available at:
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mission_and_values.html
(Accessed: 25 March 2014).
Slack N., Brandon-Jones, A., Johnston, R., Betts, A. (2013) Operations and Process
Management. 3rd edition, Harlow, UK. Pearsons
Interview with Zeidan R, (2013) Strategy Director for McDonalds MENA (Middle East &
North Africa) region
Durrande-Moreau, A (1999) Waiting for service: ten years of empirical research. Available
at http://www.imi.aau.dk (Accessed: 26th March 2014)
McDonalds (2013) Company Information. Available at:
www.mcdonalds.com/inside_our_kitchens (Accessed: 25th March 2014)