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Fast Food Feast - McDonald’s versus Whataburger Operation and Supply chain management (OSCM) is one of the foundations that successful businesses count on to provide a competitive advantage within their industry. The goal of OSCM is to develop and maintain a system that effectively and efficiently manages the flow of raw material resources into useful end products for consumer use (Chase, 2006). In the fast food industry this process takes center stage in maintaining competitive pricing. A review of the production process in two national chains, Whataburger and McDonald’s, showcases each chain’s approaches to OSCM.
Observed Production Processes McDonald’s restaurant places its focus on quick turnaround times for efficiency and cost savings. McDonald 's mission statement is “to be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat. By lowering the unit cost per item and establishing a customer flow process that increases the volume of units sold, McDonald’s can maintain its dollar menu items and low prices (McDonald’s, 2012). The production process of McDonald 's is straightforward and all McDonalds follow the same process with employee training via videos on customer service and the food prep process. The restaurant makes use of sophisticated technology and prepackaged pre-cut produce to reduce prep times. Each shift has certain cleaning tasks to complete to maintain the food prep area and safety standards. (McDonald’s, 2012).
Whataburger
The focus at Whataburger is on freshness and a burger it takes two hands to hold. The mission statement is the same as it originally was: to serve a burger so big that it took two hands to hold and so good that with one bite customers would say, “What a burger!’’(Whataburger 2012). Whataburger uses the latest technology but preserves the importance of the customer and made to order food.
Identify the customer
References: Operations Management for Competitive Advantage (11th ed.) Richard B. Chase, F. Robert Jacobs, and Nicholas J. AquilanoMcGraw-Hill, 2006 New York, NY McDonalds (2012). Company Information. Retrieved from http://www.mcdonalds.com/ Company Mission. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mission_and_values.html Whataburger. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.whataburger.com