service design – OM in the News

Restaurants Use Condiments To Expand Menus

As restaurants begin recovering from the pandemic, they are finding ways to add appeal to their menus.

Some have added new items to the menu, like Taco Bell with its Chicken Sandwich Taco and Cantina Crispy Melt Taco. Taco Bell is taking it a step further by looking to add chicken wings to the menu. Chicken wings have been a popular item during the pandemic, and Taco Bell wants to cash in on the popularity of chicken wings and chicken sandwiches.

Adding […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2021-10-25T05:03:26+00:00October 25, 2021|Tags: efficiency, fast casual restaurants, inventory management, product design, quick serve restaurants, service design|

IHOP’s Flip’d Targets On-the-Go Customers

Flip’d by IHOP is the rebooted fast-casual spinoff from IHOP. Multiple locations are planned to open in 2021. Look for Flip’d in suburban areas in New York, Kansas, and Ohio, and at high-end convenience stores like Kwik Stop and Minit Mart.

On-the-go customers can place their orders at digital kiosks or the counter. Delivery and digital order pickup are available for off-premise customers.

Video Spotlight: IHOP opening new restaurant Flip’d (May 21, 2021, KPRC 2 Click2Houston)

This post […]

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2021-08-31T07:14:05+00:00August 31, 2021|Tags: facility location, location, product design, service design|

Bite Ninja Uses Remote Gig Workers to Take Faster Food Orders

During the pandemic, finding employees has become difficult. The fast food industry has been hit especially hard by a shortage of employees.

Many restaurant workers have left the industry for reasons including better pay, fewer health risks, and more stability. Additionally, enhanced unemployment benefits in the U.S. have kept many workers out of the workforce.

Bite Ninja offers a new approach to help alleviate the employee shortage. This service uses technology to allow workers to take orders at drive-thru restaurants remotely. Workers […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2021-08-31T05:28:37+00:00August 31, 2021|Tags: capacity, gig economy, scheduling, service design, service processes, technology, waiting lines|

USPS Plans to Deliver Changes to Mail Services

The US Postal Service (USPS) is planning a service overhaul to stem its losses.

The overhaul includes replacing one-to-three-day first-class mail with one-to-five day, consolidating mail processing and postal locations, cutting hours at some retail locations, moving more first-class mail by trucks instead of airplanes, going all-electric for last-mile delivery, and increasing postal rates.

A previous OM in the News post explained additional changes being made, as part of its overall efforts to redesign services, to cut costs and […]

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2021-04-24T21:48:07+00:00April 24, 2021|Tags: service design, social and environmental responsibility, sustainability, transportation|