Delivering Hot & Fresh food, in Clean & Safe restaurants by Friendly & Fast teams is the foundation of

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1 8 Ways to Get Faster Now Guidebook Delivering Hot & Fresh food, in Clean & Safe restaurants by Friendly & Fast teams is the foundation of Operations Excellence and key to the success of the BURGER KING brand. Back in the 1950s, Jim McLamore, one of our founders, coined an expression that is still true today, Our customers have two things to spend time and money and they would rather spend their money. Today s guests describe their hectic lifestyles as a key reason why they choose to use the Drive-Thru in a fast food restaurant, sometimes as much as twice a day. This Guidebook outlines 8 ways or basic fundamentals of achieving fast service, especially at the Drive-Thru. Fast service at the drive-thru is essential to guest satisfaction and generates the capacity to grow sales as our guests confidence grows that they can get in and out quickly. These 8 ways don t just improve speed of service in the drive-thru, your team can improve speed of service at the front counter as well with this focus on execution of these fundamentals. These 8 Ways to Get Faster Now were compiled from the common strategies and tactics shared by operators that have achieved and exceeded our current BURGER KING standard of 150 seconds. Operators who consistently deliver great speed of service in every daypart, every day have embraced the key systems. These systems are executed consistently by the entire management team and all team members. No longer is great speed of service reliant on a key team member or manager. They truly have a Fast Culture in their organization and anyone in the restaurant can be fast. The 8 Ways to Get Faster Now 1. Management Fires Up the Team 2. Be Organized for Speed 3. Staff the Right Number of Team Members at the Right Time 4. Staff Team Members in the Right Positions 5. Execute Product Level System (PLS) Effectively 6. Stock PHUs with Enough Product 7. Use Enough DT Headsets 8. Execute Speedy Procedures In addition to this guidebook there are other tools you should review right away that will help you achieve your speed of service objectives. 8 Ways Drive-Thru Analyzer, Action Plan, and Problem Solving Process these tools will help you complete a thorough, objective evaluation of your operation and effectively identify the actions that will lead to sustainable improvements Manager Command Station enough materials to set up the Command Station on the side of the heat chute. The Manager Command Station serves as a focal point in running a great shift, communicating decisions and tracking improvement. (See Way #2 Organized for Speed for details on the Command Station.) Please read each of the following pages explaining the 8 Ways and then discuss with your supervisor the best approach in completing the 8 Ways DT Analyzer Tool. Keep in mind how you can take action that will improve speed of service and sustain those improvements. 1

2 Way 1 Management Fires Up the Team This begins with your desire to create a Fast culture in your restaurant(s) then supplying the spark to make it happen. You can t do this alone, so think about the coaching and reinforcement you will need to provide. To do this you ll need goals and a plan. Then fire them up! Set goals by daypart and segment. Daypart Goals Dayparts are Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, and Late Night and not all dayparts are the same. Each has its own advantage and challenges so your goals for each daypart may need to be different. Lunch is when you tend to have the greatest amount of cars and resources so you can and should be fast. At Breakfast, the orders tend to be small, and quick to prepare - you can be fast here as well. Your goals for Lunch and Breakfast can be considerably less than 150 seconds. Snack, Dinner, and Late Night may have goals higher than 150 seconds based on the challenges of those dayparts and the reality of where you are today. Consider the table here as 2 examples of setting Daypart goals based on the average distribution of cars by daypart in an average restaurant. Segment Goals Segments are the portions of the DT line that we measure with the DT Speed of Service timer Greeting, Menu, Window 1, Window 2, and Total time. These segments tell us where we need to finetune our efforts. Look at your current performance on the segments from your DT Timer report for the previous month. Restaurants that consistently do better than 150 seconds have a Greet Time average of 3 to 5 seconds, a Menu Time average of 30 to 35 seconds, and a Window 2 Time in the 55 to 60 second range. Keep in mind that Window time goals may change based on the change in the volume of cars at different dayparts. A goal of 60 seconds for a month may be reasonable, but a goal of 25 seconds maybe appropriate at Lunch. Set your segment goals based on where you are and where you want to go. Strive for continuous improvement over time. Create the Plan Start with the Lunch daypart first the majority of your cars go through your drive-thru at lunch. By improving the lunch daypart first, you improve the total day s average faster. Based on the table above, the total day s average will change 1 second after a 6 second change at Late Night, but after only a 3 second change at lunchtime. You may also find that improving your pace at lunch, improves your pace all day. Start with the Window segment first while looking at Menu and Greet Time are important segments to review, improving window time directly relates to improvements in Total Time. Difficulties with Window Time may indicate problems with production or staffing and positioning. Caution, only focusing on Window Time may lead your team toward some unwanted behaviors around keeping cars waiting at the speaker or make it difficult to compare results at different volume levels. At lower volumes of cars, the guest drives straight to the window and can result in a potentially long Window Time and short Total Time. Yet during high volume periods like Lunch, the Window time is a true measure of the capacity or your Drive-Thru. Coaching & Reinforcement Fire up the Team! Daypart Goals example Total Breakfast Lunch Snack Dinner Late Day Night 150 sec sec % of 21% 29% 19% 17% 15% cars Review your progress against your goals throughout the day Use the flashing daily average from the DT Timer display to give your team immediate feedback against your goals. Give them the reinforcement and redirection as needed on the spot to improve your performance. Have Fun Use the Daily SOS Tracking form posted at the Command Station to fire up your team and reach new records of speed. Consider appropriate rewards when records are beaten. Highlight in Green any daypart averages that meet or exceed you stated daypart goals. Green you re Mean -- Celebrate! 2

3 Way 2 Be Organized for Speed Speed of service is linked to the condition and layout of the tools and equipment team members use to do their jobs. Every step saved begins to shave seconds off you speed of service. If your team members spend time searching for tools and supplies this can lead to unnecessary delays. Focus on the following areas to be Organized for Speed : Drive-thru Window Area Manager Command Station Kitchen Be Rush Ready Drive-thru Window Area This small area is pumping out over half your sales and any obstacle is amplified many times over. Often 2 or 3 people must work in this area at the same time and coordinate the different roles they play such as Ordertaker, Cashier, or Expeditor. For the Ordertaker Ensure they can easily reach all the supplies necessary for making drinks as they are ordered. Also check that during their duties they do not block the cash handling or order finishing processes. Team Members can pick up seconds if they can see the cars approach the menu board with a working monitor or mirror. For the Cashier The cash drawer should be located in a convenient location that minimizes reaching and steps especially when multiple persons are working in that area. Also watch out for excess clutter and unneeded items in their area. For the Expeditor The expediting shelf should be on a direct line with the window and large enough to finish 2 to 3 orders. Make sure the shelf is divided to match the right bags up with the right drinks. Condiments should be within easy reach with ketchup, napkins, and straws being the easiest to reach. Manager Command Station In this package, you received what you need to set up this valuable system. The Command Station locates key management forms and guides in the area where most managers make key decisions about the flow of their shift. Each tool is located on the side of the Heat Chute in the supplied holders attached with Velcro for easy access. These tools include: Half Hour Sales Projections from PLS (Product Level System) DT Speed of Service Tracking form (Removed from the Daily Planner Spiral Book for improved awareness and follow up Fire Up the Team) Staffing & Positioning Guide (Master copies included in your package to make copies for your specific layout.) More information on how to use this in Ways 3 & 4. Daily Cleaning Assignments (Reformatted to fold and fit into the holder.) See the instructions on setting up the Command Station provided in your materials. Here at the Command Station you can review information for the key decisions you need to make during your shift regarding calling levels, positioning team members, assigning cleaning duties, and monitoring speed of service all without leaving the action of your shift. This area also becomes a focal point for discussions with your team. Kitchen Looking all over for the spare tongs or marking pen in the middle of lunch can throw off the rest of the rush period and you may never recover. Make sure you have enough pans, tongs, grates, pens, utensils, and other tools. Any equipment running at less than peak efficiency such as your broiler, toasters, or fryers can slow down speed of service. Proper labeling of microwaves, product holding units (PHU), and fryer computers increases the chances that you are organized for speed. Be Rush Ready Train your teams to make sure all workstations are Rush Ready with all tools, supplies, materials prior to the rush period. Coach them to leave their station Rush Ready when they go home. Make a checklist part of everyone s daily routine. See the 8 Ways Drive-thru Analyzer for more details on being Organized for Speed. 3

4 Way 3 Staff the Right Number of Team Members at the Right Time Ways 3 and 4 are both about proper deployment of labor but are each important in their own way that they merit separate emphasis. Without focusing on each one individually, you risk thinking that enough labor alone will get you fast or positioning an inadequate amount of labor will work as well. Way 3 is having the Right Number of People at the Right Time and Way 4 is the Right People in the Right Position. Bet you ve heard that before. Effective Scheduling is the best way to ensure you have the right people at the right time. An effective schedule is one based on projected sales -- even as far down as to the half hour level. Using sales projections, match up the right number of people with the use of a Staffing Guide (sometimes referred to as a Manning Guide). We have included Staffing & Positioning Guides in your materials. These guides are based on time studies and product mix models generated by our new Labor Scheduling System (LSS). The LSS model calculates the number of people needed based on the actual work required to generate specific sales levels. This LSS model is just beginning to debut into the BURGER KING System. More information will be available soon. In the meantime the LSS model gives us a guide to start with. Select the Staffing & Positioning Guide that best represents you restaurant configuration and make enough copies to use for each shift Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. The versions included in your materials is: 1 DT Window 2 DT Window Non DT 1 DT Window Breakfast 2 DT Window Breakfast Non DT Breakfast Additional configurations will be on the BK OPS Connect website as they become available. The lower half of the guide lists the sales ranges and number of team members needed based on an average product mix with average menu prices run through the LSS model. Use these ranges for scheduling the right number of team members per half hour sales projections. Other menu price models will be posted on the BK OPS Connect website. When making team member schedules keep these key points in mind: Don t try to make up labor during peak periods If you don t have enough team members to meet the number needed for the peak sales period, hire more team members with that availability. Lower team turnover leads to better cross training and flexibility. 4

5 Way 4 Staff Team Members in the Right Positions The Staffing & Positioning Guide also helps you make good positioning decisions. Each position is numbered in the order that each primary position should be filled. In addition to the primary position, a person s secondary position and/or duties are also listed. Pay close attention to the secondary positions since at lower sales volumes, some team members will need to fill more than one position. Here are some things to remember when positioning your team using the guide: Fill out the guide the day before your shift using your posted schedule. This way you can plan ahead and spot any potential staffing problems ahead of time and correct them. Put Aces in their Place during peak periods. You want to be running at top capacity during peaks. Conduct your training during off peaks when team members can concentrate on improving their skills. Fill the positions in numerical order. If you have 9 team members, then positions 1 through 9 should be filled. If you cannot fill the positions in order, you have a skill gap that can be filled with training or hiring. Don t fill in names in 2 places. Focus on primary and secondary duties and use arrows if necessary. Otherwise, you will not be able to identify the skill gaps in your shift. Ensure proper balance between the front and kitchen. However with Phase I kitchen and batch cooking, you can place the next team member or odd numbered position into a service position. 2nd DT Windows If you have a second drive-thru (cash window) keeping this window open has been proven to improve speed of service at least 11 seconds. If you have it, open it. Here are some guidelines for using the second window: Open 2nd window during all peak periods. Some restaurants keep their window open even longer in the afternoon or at breakfast. On the Staffing & Positioning Guide the 2nd window position is numbered 7. So anytime you have at least 7 people on the shift, the 2nd window should be open. To open the window even earlier, and get the savings in speed, have the manager substitute into position #5 DT Expeditor, and move a team member to open the window. If you can t open the window with that number of people you have a skill gap, and need to once again, hire or train. Only take payment in that window. Taking orders and payment in that window just moves the bottleneck further back in the line. You know you have a bottleneck when you hear Be right with you on your headset either to the guest at the speaker or at the window. The true timesavings are gained when you can perform both processes (order taking and payment) simultaneously. Use clear signage for the guest instructing them if they should stop and pay, or move to the next window. Most of the promotional materials vendors have in-stock signage. 5

6 Way 5 Execute Product Level System (PLS) Effectively The Product Level System (PLS) is critical to running your shift. When the PLS is executed effectively, you are prepared to deliver both quality and speed! Effective execution of PLS ensures the Right products at the Right time. Otherwise too much product leads to poor quality or excessive waste and not enough product leads to poor speed of service. PLS helps you strike the right balance. Here are the key points on the execution of PLS: Ensure all your charts are up-to date with the current product mix, so you will have the right product at the right time. Product mix often changes significantly when a new product or promotion starts or during a seasonal change of the year, such as, back to school, holidays. All charts should be clearly visible at each station and we recommend you set up extra charts at the heat chute for management to easily check if the team members are following the charts accurately. The easel binders we use for RightTRACK Training work great to hold PLS Charts. The manager should call the levels, and change the level light based on half hour sales volume. Use the half hour sales projection chart you posted at the Manager Command Station throughout your shift. Some managers store the waste sheet behind this chart for quick reference and as a reminder that proper PLS execution improves waste control. Ensure all bulbs are functioning on the level light system (wall unit). The bulbs that burn out are usually the ones you use the most. Using other components of the PLS will help ensure you are Rush Ready! Check the Workload balance for your restaurant to ensure all product is balanced between all the boards in the kitchen. Use the Thawing Chart Planner to make sure you have enough frozen product thawed and ready for the day. The Condiment Stock Guide helps ensure you have the proper amount of board prep ready for the meal period. Use the Salad Prep Chart to make sure you have salads ready for the meal period. Running out of salads, thawed products, or prep during the peak period is a real speed killer. Way 6 Stock PHUs with Enough Product Stocking the Product Holding Units (PHU) with the proper amount of product ensures you are Rush Ready! Many times a restaurant goes into the peak period without enough product in the PHUs and doesn t get caught up until it is tool late after the rush. Now they have too much product. To properly execute batch cooking you must build to the production schedule. To ensure the Right amount of product is in the PHU pans at the Right Time, production for each 1/2 hour must begin 5-10 minutes prior to the time the product is actually needed. (Example for 11:30 -- build-to production the schedule at 11:20, don t start at 11:30) We recommend one person in the kitchen is responsible for food production. This should be your most experienced kitchen person on each shift. 6

7 Way 7 Use Enough DT Headsets Using DT headsets can be an easy way to improve speed of service, order accuracy, friendliness, and team training. In the past a headset was a way to eliminate the loud, speaker box that both the guest and us had trouble hearing. Now headsets are used to facilitate team work in the DT, relay orders to the kitchen, enable managers to improve their reach, and oh yes get faster. Today s headsets use Full Duplex Sound which means both, ordertaker and guest, can communicate clearly and at the same time more like a telephone than a radio. Studies* point out some interesting facts regarding the use of headsets: Service was 22 seconds faster with clear DT communication versus unclear communication. A 23 second service time difference per vehicle was found between restaurants using 4 or fewer headsets versus those with 7 or more. 83% of restaurants use 4 of fewer headsets. Restaurants that used headsets in the production area for team members to hear the order clearly were 11 seconds faster. To gain the improvements in speed that headsets can provide, we recommend that each restaurant have 5 to 7 working headsets and enough spare batteries to make it through the day. Make sure that when a headset is broken or damaged that you have a speedy repair process. Local and national vendors offer exchange and/or repair options. For more information on national repair contracts and headset purchases go to the RSI website at How do you leverage headsets to improve speed of service? DT Team members use headsets to communicate with the guest but also with each other by using the B channel that second button allows communication internally only to other headset users. The ordertaker can tell the expeditor of a change in a special or other item. The ordertaker can tell the cash window person of a change to a total without leaving the window. Anyone can hear the guest order a drink and then draw that drink right away. Managers can use a headset to direct their shift and coach their team. By staying plugged in to the order taking process managers can listen for potential bottlenecks in production or service and even intervene in a tense situation with a guest. The manager can also listen and coach the DT team on order taking procedures and friendliness. Also using the B channel, the manager can direct someone to check the dining room, go on a break, or even fire up their team with recognition. Production team members can use headsets for things like quickly making the right entrée or ensuring enough fresh fries. If a guest orders a Whopper sandwich and the board person makes it right away, the sandwich will be ready before the guest leaves the menu board. Also production team members can use the B channel to inform the manager or DT team of any production delays. One real life example of the power of headsets occurred during a busy lunch period when a guest ordered a Whopper sandwich without onions and the ordertaker rang up a Whopper sandwich minus tomato. Normally this could cause chaos and the DT to come to a screeching halt or an argument to take place between the guest and the ordertaker, or the ordertaker and the kitchen team. You have heard it before, I wanted no onions. That s not how you ordered it. Make a new one right away. On this day the guest ordered no onions, the board person heard no onions in their headset. They made a Whopper with no onions. The manager heard the guest and saw the order was rung up incorrectly then used the B channel to tell the team, the next car is no onion, not no tomato, -- we pushed the wrong key. What could have been a bad situation was prevented. That s just a single example of the power of headset technology when everyone is plugged in. *Global Growth Group Drive-Thru Communications Study 7

8 Way 8 Execute Speedy Procedures Sometimes you can go faster without going faster. The procedures you and your team use to process orders can play a big role in your speed of service. Their interaction with the guest can be shortened and still be effective. Also, guests appreciate it when you help them enjoy the convenience of a well-run drive-thru. Guests use the drive-thru most for its convenience. Speedy procedures include: Greetings Suggestive Selling Repeating Orders Window Actions Greetings Make sure greetings are prompt, concise, and friendly. Prompt is within 3 to 5 seconds after the car signals the menu board loop. Review the Greeting segment from the DT Timer for how you are doing in each daypart. Concise is keeping the greeting short, such as, Hi, May I help you? Selling in the greeting is often ineffective and can slow down the order process. Friendly has less to do with the words you use and more about the tone, pace, and clarity of the ordertaker. Smile with your voice. Also, long greetings tend to be delivered too fast and are rarely friendly. Managers should listen with headsets to assess and coach their team on greetings and other guest interactions. Suggestive Selling Don t let it interfere with speed. Consider limiting suggestive selling during peak periods to easy to ask and likely accepted items. Limits suggestive selling to perhaps no more than once per order. It takes about 3 to 4 seconds to ask and answer a suggestive selling question. If you put your effort into reducing your speed of service by 3 to 4 seconds instead, you will see more sales. In fact, 4 out of 10 guests would have to say yes to adding a pie to their order to equal the sales generated by faster service. Vary your suggestive selling based on the flow of guests. Guests tell us they don t like being asked a lot of questions when there is a line or when they know what they want. Repeating Orders the purpose is getting the order right, quickly Ask faster Yes or No questions like, Would you like the Value Meal? not, is that the meal or the sandwich? Is that with a Coke? instead of What would you like to drink? The answer is often, What do you have? Default to standard builds on breakfast sandwiches, salads, valuemeals, and kid s meals. Repeat the full order only when necessary, such as, if the ordertaker has difficulty clearly hearing or understanding the guest. Repeat lengthy orders or when the guest requests it. Review you Menu Time on the DT Timer to see if your team is taking too long to take the order by using too many questions or suggestive selling. Keep your Menu Time within 30 to 35 seconds. Window Actions What you do can be speedy with going faster. Anticipate the change to the next dollar and have it in your hand before the guest pulls up to the window. This works very well in 2 window restaurants. Push orders out the window using both hands and hand the drinks first. Many guests like to look in the bag and will leave you holding the drink. When your team is speedy and efficient guests appreciate this and feel you are friendlier and attentive to their needs. One caution: many of our team members get used to doing things a certain way whether it is speedy or not. Trying to change procedures and behaviors can take time and effort. Use your headsets and your skill as a leader to help them. Summary: Think of these 8 Ways like the pistons in a high performance engine. To run at high speed, you must be firing on all cylinders. You can fire them one at a time to start it up but after that all 8 need to be working together. Your team members are the fuel that runs this high performance engine -- so don t forget about them as well. Your role -- you are the spark that ignites the fuel. Use the 8 Ways DT Analyzer with your supervisor to identify the actions you should take now and in the future to get faster now and forever. 8