Themes: Supply Chain Management
Period : 1996 - 2002
Organization : McDonalds
Pub Date : 2002
Countries : Sweden
Industry : Food, Beverage and Tobacco
For in-city delivery, the truck was monitored from the time it left the distribution centre till the time it reached the restaurant. Not just that, the time taken in offloading was noted too. Adhye further added, "The restaurant gives us a strict 30-minute window in which time we have to complete the delivery. And in the last two and a half years we have missed the window only once."
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RFPL was also responsible for cleanliness (including the personal hygiene of the drivers), and the packing and temperature control of the food (digital probes were inserted into items selected at random) it transported. There were also data logs to track the movement of each batch. This meant that in the case of a complaint from a restaurant, the batch could be identified, isolated, and dumped. To perfect the system, the RFPL team travelled to a number of countries, including Turkey, the Philippines, Australia, and the US. AFLL also followed similarly detailed procedures.
McDonald's insisted on standardization by its suppliers. Vista Processed Foods & Kitran Foods (Vista & Kitran Foods), which supplied the pies, nuggets, vegetable, and chicken patties, commissioned a new facility for the purpose in 1996, complete with insulated panels, temperature control, and chill rooms. McDonald's also assisted its suppliers with improvements. For instance, it helped Trikaya Agriculture develop a variety of iceberg lettuces (which is a winter crop) that would grow all year round. And for quality control, Trikaya's post-harvest facilities included a cold chain consisting of a pre-cooling room to remove field heat, a large cold room, and a refrigerated van with humidity controls.