9 ms·

I work in midtown NYC near a Chick-fil-a location. Used to be a line down the block, went with a friend yesterday thinking we caught the line at a short time bu

by max_im 8y ago

I work in midtown NYC near a Chick-fil-a location. Used to be a line down the block, went with a friend yesterday thinking we caught the line at a short time but turns out they were using smiley employees with ipads coordinating orders and that they were serving arguably more people than before. Very impressed with how seamlessly they've integrated tech in their brick and mortars in contrast with the countless "cashless" restaurants that just add cruft, inefficiency, and customer resentment.

umanwizard 8y ago
They've been doing this for several years at least (employees taking orders of people in line). I think since before the iPad was released.
- max_im 8y ago
  For sure. Meant it more as a response to contents of the article that they've managed to break down their business processes into a subset of (dare I say) microservices that have allowed them to pinpoint weaknesses in efficiency and improve upon them - ie. the waffle fries example mentioned.
  - laurentl 8y ago
    On the other hand when reading the article I kept thinking of the poor sod who has to cook a new batch of waffle fries because “The Edge” told him to.
    - coffeesn0b 8y ago
      Ultimately “the edge” will just do it for him :-P
      - frankydp 8y ago
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pboejsWb484 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pboejsWb484 These got installed, but adoption was low due to cost, they were tied into the POS.
      - ForrestN 8y ago
        So many cute puns ^____^ Do you guys have any thoughts about this other interesting article? https://thinkprogress.org/sorry-marco-rubio-chick-fil-still-anti-lgbtq-083e28896fad-c27d2f72e52b-29c662a73b7c-9cd823511a46/ https://thinkprogress.org/sorry-marco-rubio-chick-fil-still-... Exciting to see where those dollars you saved are headed!
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - seattlefreeze 8y ago
      Why do you consider the cook "a poor sod"? Because he/she is working a job and making a living? I imagine you didn't mean much by it but understand that just because everyone isn't employed in what many consider desirable professions doesn't mean their work is not important or that they don't take pride in what they do. Not meant to be a rant, just wanted to make the point.
      - Fellshard 8y ago
        You'd be amazed how much satisfaction you can get out of learning to keep a steady stream of perfectly-crispy fries going. It's quite fun on a busy day - hectic, but strategic, and rewarding when you can stay on top of things _and_ produce minimal waste in the process. In some sense, the automation of demand prediction takes some of the fun out of gaining that intuition yourself. On the other hand, it is nice not to be the queue blocker with orders piling up behind you because you weren't prepared for a sudden burst of traffic...
        laurentl 8y ago
        Okay, looking at it as the computer helping you stay in the flow is certainly a different perspective.
        Fellshard 8y ago
        It might be looking back on my time in fast food with a slightly more romanticized lens than most would probably give it. :)
        zaroth 8y ago
        There’s a short-order chef game my kids play on the iPad, you can practically see the endorphins pumping when they manage to serve all the customers in time. The human brain is definitely wired for this sort of thing.
        loco5niner 8y ago
        Me too probably. I loved my fast food job in high school. That said, I'm glad I'm not still doing it.
    - pfranz 8y ago
      From my days in those kinds of jobs I'd welcome it. I won't have to go count how much we have on hand. I just drop whats listed and move on to something else. My problems would usually come from "a system" that were missing large steps or prerequisites. "Start frying 1 batch of fries and other in 4 minutes" except the fries weren't cut the night before so both fries wont go in for another 20m. Or the food in the fridge is no longer fresh enough to serve, so we're down some food for the dinner rush.
    - loco5niner 8y ago
      What!? I LOVED my fast food job as a high schooler. It was fast-paced, and good work. I likely would have enjoyed getting instructions from a computer, lol. I certainly wasn't some poor sod.
- clubm8 8y ago
  > They've been doing this for several years at least (employees taking orders of people in line). I think since before the iPad was released. Wendy's used to do this around 91/92 (clipboard, not iPad) I think they ditched it with the smoking sections.
duxup 8y ago
Quite a few stores do that when they get busy.
beckler 8y ago
I have a friend who used to be a shift manager at Chick-fil-A. I can't remember exactly what he called that process... It was like meet and greet or walk and talk, but it's surprisingly efficient for the drive thru. He said it cuts down the average wait time for customers around 15% at his location. I don't know what it would be like at NYC since it's not a drive thru.
- raiflip 8y ago
  It's crazy efficient. When you walk in someone with a tablet takes your order, and by the time you get to the cash register your food is ready. Works so well because the employees are able to catch customers at the end of the line.
  - burgreblast 8y ago
    Here's "Line busting" the drive thru 68+ cars deep. It's astonishing the WiFi goes out that far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIQWyYQ0EYg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIQWyYQ0EYg FWIW, also an edge approach, with Prometheus etc.
    - donkeyd 8y ago
      Slightly off-topic, but what's the reason that Americans all tend to line-up at the drive thru? I was in LA, there was a huge line at the drive thru, so we parked, went inside and got our orders really quickly.
      - always_good 8y ago
        The comfort of still being in your own space. For example, listening to your own music, no excursion for your kids to belabor, precisely don't have to park and get out.
        flamtap 8y ago
        Yeah, I think I would rather wait 10 minutes in my car than 5 minutes in line. I'm sure other people may feel differently. And something about the drive-thru still "feels" faster, even if it's not. I think it's just the idea that you get to pull out and be on your way after you've gotten your food.
wil421 8y ago
Chick-fil-a does not run the iPad software but it does integrate with their systems. The same company who sells their POS software runs the iPad software and I believe the Chick-fil-a One app.
paulie_a 8y ago
That is strange to have a cashless restaurant. If anything cash is preferred. I know of a few places that only accept cash. And in the last week my debit card chip has been malfunctioning so I have to pay cash for everything until my new one arrives. I even attempted to use nfc today. That is a shit technology and was a waste of time. The POS terminals simply don't work.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
bfuller 8y ago
I live near the busiest chic fil a in the country. If they didn't have the iPads it would be impossible to serve all the people.

by max_im 8y ago

umanwizard 8y ago

They've been doing this for several years at least (employees taking orders of people in line). I think since before the iPad was released.

max_im 8y ago
For sure. Meant it more as a response to contents of the article that they've managed to break down their business processes into a subset of (dare I say) microservices that have allowed them to pinpoint weaknesses in efficiency and improve upon them - ie. the waffle fries example mentioned.
- laurentl 8y ago
  On the other hand when reading the article I kept thinking of the poor sod who has to cook a new batch of waffle fries because “The Edge” told him to.
  - coffeesn0b 8y ago
    Ultimately “the edge” will just do it for him :-P
    - frankydp 8y ago
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pboejsWb484 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pboejsWb484 These got installed, but adoption was low due to cost, they were tied into the POS.
    - ForrestN 8y ago
      So many cute puns ^____^ Do you guys have any thoughts about this other interesting article? https://thinkprogress.org/sorry-marco-rubio-chick-fil-still-anti-lgbtq-083e28896fad-c27d2f72e52b-29c662a73b7c-9cd823511a46/ https://thinkprogress.org/sorry-marco-rubio-chick-fil-still-... Exciting to see where those dollars you saved are headed!
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - seattlefreeze 8y ago
    Why do you consider the cook "a poor sod"? Because he/she is working a job and making a living? I imagine you didn't mean much by it but understand that just because everyone isn't employed in what many consider desirable professions doesn't mean their work is not important or that they don't take pride in what they do. Not meant to be a rant, just wanted to make the point.
    - Fellshard 8y ago
      You'd be amazed how much satisfaction you can get out of learning to keep a steady stream of perfectly-crispy fries going. It's quite fun on a busy day - hectic, but strategic, and rewarding when you can stay on top of things _and_ produce minimal waste in the process. In some sense, the automation of demand prediction takes some of the fun out of gaining that intuition yourself. On the other hand, it is nice not to be the queue blocker with orders piling up behind you because you weren't prepared for a sudden burst of traffic...
      - laurentl 8y ago
        Okay, looking at it as the computer helping you stay in the flow is certainly a different perspective.
        Fellshard 8y ago
        It might be looking back on my time in fast food with a slightly more romanticized lens than most would probably give it. :)
        zaroth 8y ago
        There’s a short-order chef game my kids play on the iPad, you can practically see the endorphins pumping when they manage to serve all the customers in time. The human brain is definitely wired for this sort of thing.
        loco5niner 8y ago
        Me too probably. I loved my fast food job in high school. That said, I'm glad I'm not still doing it.
  - pfranz 8y ago
    From my days in those kinds of jobs I'd welcome it. I won't have to go count how much we have on hand. I just drop whats listed and move on to something else. My problems would usually come from "a system" that were missing large steps or prerequisites. "Start frying 1 batch of fries and other in 4 minutes" except the fries weren't cut the night before so both fries wont go in for another 20m. Or the food in the fridge is no longer fresh enough to serve, so we're down some food for the dinner rush.
  - loco5niner 8y ago
    What!? I LOVED my fast food job as a high schooler. It was fast-paced, and good work. I likely would have enjoyed getting instructions from a computer, lol. I certainly wasn't some poor sod.
clubm8 8y ago
> They've been doing this for several years at least (employees taking orders of people in line). I think since before the iPad was released. Wendy's used to do this around 91/92 (clipboard, not iPad) I think they ditched it with the smoking sections.

duxup 8y ago

Quite a few stores do that when they get busy.

beckler 8y ago

I have a friend who used to be a shift manager at Chick-fil-A. I can't remember exactly what he called that process... It was like meet and greet or walk and talk, but it's surprisingly efficient for the drive thru. He said it cuts down the average wait time for customers around 15% at his location. I don't know what it would be like at NYC since it's not a drive thru.

raiflip 8y ago
It's crazy efficient. When you walk in someone with a tablet takes your order, and by the time you get to the cash register your food is ready. Works so well because the employees are able to catch customers at the end of the line.
- burgreblast 8y ago
  Here's "Line busting" the drive thru 68+ cars deep. It's astonishing the WiFi goes out that far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIQWyYQ0EYg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIQWyYQ0EYg FWIW, also an edge approach, with Prometheus etc.
  - donkeyd 8y ago
    Slightly off-topic, but what's the reason that Americans all tend to line-up at the drive thru? I was in LA, there was a huge line at the drive thru, so we parked, went inside and got our orders really quickly.
    - always_good 8y ago
      The comfort of still being in your own space. For example, listening to your own music, no excursion for your kids to belabor, precisely don't have to park and get out.
      - flamtap 8y ago
        Yeah, I think I would rather wait 10 minutes in my car than 5 minutes in line. I'm sure other people may feel differently. And something about the drive-thru still "feels" faster, even if it's not. I think it's just the idea that you get to pull out and be on your way after you've gotten your food.

wil421 8y ago

Chick-fil-a does not run the iPad software but it does integrate with their systems. The same company who sells their POS software runs the iPad software and I believe the Chick-fil-a One app.

paulie_a 8y ago

That is strange to have a cashless restaurant. If anything cash is preferred. I know of a few places that only accept cash. And in the last week my debit card chip has been malfunctioning so I have to pay cash for everything until my new one arrives. I even attempted to use nfc today. That is a shit technology and was a waste of time. The POS terminals simply don't work.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

bfuller 8y ago

I live near the busiest chic fil a in the country. If they didn't have the iPads it would be impossible to serve all the people.