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Some questions that I felt were not answered: 1. The video shows Taylor docs that have logo of Wendy's and other outlets that use their machines. So why those

Some questions that I felt were not answered: 1. The video shows Taylor docs that have logo of Wendy's and other outlets that use their machines. So why those outlets are not facing the same issues? Do they use the same 602 model? Are the software versions same there i.e. same cryptic error codes? Any other differences compared to McDonalds? 2. One of Wendy's employees says that they wash the machine every night. Are McDonald's not doing this? Or are they prevented from doing so due to some reason like different operating instructions or model or something else? 3. Is the more user friendly software, that they mentioned that McDonald's blocked, being used by any other chain outlets? If yes, what is the experience of using that vs not using that?

adventured 6y ago
> The video shows Taylor docs that have logo of Wendy's and other outlets that use their machines. So why those outlets are not facing the same issues? The video mentions that McDonald's was/is locked into a specific machine from Taylor (which all franchisees had to buy), whereas one imagines that the other chains like In-N-Out Burger are entirely free to purchase a different machine from Taylor that doesn't have so many problems. It seems like McDonald's locked onto one machine for a very long period of time. Other fastfood chains may have moved on from that machine after they noticed problems with it (or otherwise passed on it). It was confusing that the video repeatedly mentions other chains don't have the problem despite supposedly using the same machine (but is it actually the same machine, or is it merely a similar machine). The nefarious aspect may be whether McDonald's corporate is getting a direct kickback in some (plausibly legal) manner from Taylor or its parent company, which bypasses the franchisees and McDonald's corporate calculated out that they come out better off net through the scheme of allowing high rates of downtime on the machines (compared to how much they would get from increased franchise sales of ice cream if the machines had high uptime, via the cut of gross sales that corporate gets from a franchise). It's super odd that McDonald's so tightly locked the franchisees into this specific garbage machine and for so long, even though they obviously knew how bad it was. Piles of reports would have shown up very rapidly at McDonald's HQ and yet they persisted; it suggests something shady going on at corporate that is against the interests of the franchisees. > One of Wendy's employees says that they wash the machine every night. Are McDonald's not doing this? McDonald's is doing that as well and that's where the machines are commonly failing. The employees come in the next morning after running the clean cycle overnight and find that it failed. So they have to go through a four hour process from there forward and it might fail again before that is properly completed, and so the cycle resets.
- randymercury 6y ago
  The kickback scenario came to mind for me as well. It could even be something less nefarious than a formalized system on a corporate level. Personal relationships with key decision makers, vegas trips, the old boys club etc. Two companies with that kind of old relationship.
- noisy_boy 6y ago
  > It seems like McDonald's locked onto one machine for a very long period of time. Other fastfood chains may have moved on from that machine after they noticed problems with it (or otherwise passed on it). It was confusing that the video repeatedly mentions other chains don't have the problem despite supposedly using the same machine (but is it actually the same machine, or is it merely a similar machine). Indeed - considering how much effort they spent on the details, they could have tried to obtain what the rival outlets were doing different considering they also use the same manufacturer and don't have same issues E.g. the model details on rival outlets to see if this issue was not affecting other Taylor models. >> One of Wendy's employees says that they wash the machine every night. Are McDonald's not doing this? > McDonald's is doing that as well and that's where the machines are commonly failing. The employees come in the next morning after running the clean cycle overnight and find that it failed. So they have to go through a four hour process from there forward and it might fail again before that is properly completed, and so the cycle resets. Again, this is the same point - if both outlets are doing the washing, then why is it not affecting Wendy's? Difference in model or process of washing is not same or Wendy's have added additional instructions to deal with such issues e.g. not overfill the mixture etc? Basically, the missing comparison is an obvious omission from, what is otherwise, a great video.
bombcar 6y ago
McDonald's is designed to run with the simplest possible steps. I suspect that "clean nightly" is a different process for MCD vs Wendy's, and that the MCDs is designed to "automate" more of whatever it does - and if it fails it locks you out. In other words Wendy's and In-N-Out have more details procedures that the employees have to do (and "wash the machine" may include dumping all extra product, cleaning the insides and the dispensers) whereas the McDonald's "wash the machine" may be just clean the dispensers and load with product and let the machine do it's thing (and only every 14 days do a full clean). But since the simpler machines trust the humans they can be made to run even if steps were missed.

adventured 6y ago

> The video shows Taylor docs that have logo of Wendy's and other outlets that use their machines. So why those outlets are not facing the same issues? The video mentions that McDonald's was/is locked into a specific machine from Taylor (which all franchisees had to buy), whereas one imagines that the other chains like In-N-Out Burger are entirely free to purchase a different machine from Taylor that doesn't have so many problems. It seems like McDonald's locked onto one machine for a very long period of time. Other fastfood chains may have moved on from that machine after they noticed problems with it (or otherwise passed on it). It was confusing that the video repeatedly mentions other chains don't have the problem despite supposedly using the same machine (but is it actually the same machine, or is it merely a similar machine). The nefarious aspect may be whether McDonald's corporate is getting a direct kickback in some (plausibly legal) manner from Taylor or its parent company, which bypasses the franchisees and McDonald's corporate calculated out that they come out better off net through the scheme of allowing high rates of downtime on the machines (compared to how much they would get from increased franchise sales of ice cream if the machines had high uptime, via the cut of gross sales that corporate gets from a franchise). It's super odd that McDonald's so tightly locked the franchisees into this specific garbage machine and for so long, even though they obviously knew how bad it was. Piles of reports would have shown up very rapidly at McDonald's HQ and yet they persisted; it suggests something shady going on at corporate that is against the interests of the franchisees. > One of Wendy's employees says that they wash the machine every night. Are McDonald's not doing this? McDonald's is doing that as well and that's where the machines are commonly failing. The employees come in the next morning after running the clean cycle overnight and find that it failed. So they have to go through a four hour process from there forward and it might fail again before that is properly completed, and so the cycle resets.

randymercury 6y ago
The kickback scenario came to mind for me as well. It could even be something less nefarious than a formalized system on a corporate level. Personal relationships with key decision makers, vegas trips, the old boys club etc. Two companies with that kind of old relationship.
noisy_boy 6y ago
> It seems like McDonald's locked onto one machine for a very long period of time. Other fastfood chains may have moved on from that machine after they noticed problems with it (or otherwise passed on it). It was confusing that the video repeatedly mentions other chains don't have the problem despite supposedly using the same machine (but is it actually the same machine, or is it merely a similar machine). Indeed - considering how much effort they spent on the details, they could have tried to obtain what the rival outlets were doing different considering they also use the same manufacturer and don't have same issues E.g. the model details on rival outlets to see if this issue was not affecting other Taylor models. >> One of Wendy's employees says that they wash the machine every night. Are McDonald's not doing this? > McDonald's is doing that as well and that's where the machines are commonly failing. The employees come in the next morning after running the clean cycle overnight and find that it failed. So they have to go through a four hour process from there forward and it might fail again before that is properly completed, and so the cycle resets. Again, this is the same point - if both outlets are doing the washing, then why is it not affecting Wendy's? Difference in model or process of washing is not same or Wendy's have added additional instructions to deal with such issues e.g. not overfill the mixture etc? Basically, the missing comparison is an obvious omission from, what is otherwise, a great video.

bombcar 6y ago

McDonald's is designed to run with the simplest possible steps. I suspect that "clean nightly" is a different process for MCD vs Wendy's, and that the MCDs is designed to "automate" more of whatever it does - and if it fails it locks you out. In other words Wendy's and In-N-Out have more details procedures that the employees have to do (and "wash the machine" may include dumping all extra product, cleaning the insides and the dispensers) whereas the McDonald's "wash the machine" may be just clean the dispensers and load with product and let the machine do it's thing (and only every 14 days do a full clean). But since the simpler machines trust the humans they can be made to run even if steps were missed.