process design – OM in the News

Mass Customization Trend at Quick-Service Restaurants

While Subway moves away from its 57-year mass customization approach for sandwiches, instead emphasizing its Signature Series sandwiches, many quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are adding mass customization.

Starbucks is one such example. Customer demand for customized cold coffee beverages now represents approximately 75% of the chain’s total beverage sales. Starbucks is rolling out a new system called Siren to meet the growing demand for cold customized beverages. This system reduces the time required to produce a customized drink. For […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2022-11-13T05:46:14+00:00November 13, 2022|Tags: mass customization, process design, product design, quick serve restaurants, restaurant, service blueprint, technology|

Subway’s New Menu Revisited

OM in the News blogged about Subway’s new menu in July 2022. Subway changed its 57-year-old approach of having customers build their own sandwiches, and rolled out 12 chef-inspired Signature Series sandwiches to push customers to order by sandwich name or number.

Now the results are in. The results indicate an 8.4% increase in same-store sales from the quarter a year ago. For September 2022, the results are even better at nearly 11% year-over-year growth.

In 2021, sales improved […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2022-11-09T08:22:07+00:00November 9, 2022|Tags: efficiency, inventory management, limited menus, process design, product design, queuing theory, quick serve restaurants, service, supply chain management, waiting line|

Fully-Autonomous Restaurant in San Francisco

Mezli, which just opened its first restaurant in August 2022, utilizes technology to bring healthy Mediterranean grain bowls to the market.

The initial restaurant is fully-autonomous and housed in a 20-foot shipping container. Their Mediterranean bowls are priced to be affordable, with the flagship bowls starting at $6.99. A Michelin-starred chef assisted with the creation of their menu.

The process begins each day at Mezli’s central kitchen with food preparation. Food is then delivered to the restaurant. Robots at the restaurant receive customer […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2022-09-25T23:56:43+00:00September 27, 2022|Tags: apps, automation, location, process design, processes, robotics, robots, technology|

Subway’s New Menu

Since Subway came into existence 57 years ago, customers have been able to build their own sandwich.

However, the company recently introduced a new product line, its Subway Series Sandwiches. Customers can choose to still build their own sandwich, or order one of the twelve Subway Series Sandwiches by number or name.

The twelve new sandwiches were selected from hundreds of options. Chef-developed, focusing on recently introduced ingredients, the Subway Series choices were based on digital order data.

This menu change follows last […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2022-07-22T20:58:30+00:00July 27, 2022|Tags: efficiency, inventory management, limited menus, process design, product design, quick serve restaurants, service, service blueprint|