5 ms·

I wouldn't call it competition since McDonald's specifically forbade franchisees from using Kytch's device.

raverbashing 5y ago
Yeah, and for some reason McD thinks you need a technician to fix something hard like "container overfilled" or something. And apparently even Taylor thinks this is stupid. Sounds like an "ok boomer" moment. (or maybe something involving financial incentives, can't exclude that) "Who mitms their own machine?!" Well, did Taylor fire the engineers that built this? Or they just want to keep the same limited hw and work the diagnostics part around it?
- Eelongate 5y ago
  If McDonald's want's to error on the side of caution, isn't that their prerogative?
  - raverbashing 5y ago
    Sure, it's their prerrogative to continue squeezing their franchisees as much as they can and make their work as hard as they can. If I wanted to lose money there are less painful ways than being a McD franchisee. McD's actual business is on real estate/franchise fees. The food business is secondary and is a justification for the first. Guess which part is risky and complicated?
    - heisenbit 5y ago
      Abusive monopolistic behavior if left unchecked can lead to great evil. This was recognized a long time ago and led to anti monopoly legislation and enforcement. Just think what would have happened to the internet if AT&T‘s stranglehold over the connection of equipment to telephone lines had continued. Strangling is not a prerogative of the strongest.
  - josefx 5y ago
    Problem is McDonald's isn't paying for all the unnecessary service calls, it is the restaurant owner that have to buy the McDonald's mandated machines that end up paying. So you have McDonald's which has no incentive to change things, Taylor which profits from the situation since their devices are mandated and the restaurant owners who have to foot the bill for hundreds of pointless service calls.
    - colejohnson66 5y ago
      But what does McDonald's gain from the PR backlash? Is there some perpetual contract between McDonald's and Taylor, and they just screwed up by buying a worse model? You'd think that the corporate overlords would perfer the machine to be working so they make money from the sales...
      - IG_Semmelweiss 5y ago
        Nothing. But the alternative isn't great either. Its more costly and vastly more negative from a PR perspective, for McDonalds to force franchisees to change ice cream machinery vendors. Same thing for Taylor upgrading their own machines - with the added cost that they don't have any goodwill to start. There's an added incentive here that McD wants the legal shield up at all times - they are incentivized to keep machine error rate very low, to the cost of $$ in sales lost. Consumers greatly benefit from it - we get worse availability of ice cream when we walk in, and we are paying slightly more in menu prices, but the risk of getting poisoned from eating ice cream at McD ends up extremely low.
      - jlbooker 5y ago
        > You'd think that the corporate overlords would prefer the machine to be working so they make money from the sales... And that's where the intrigue and accusations of foul play are coming in. It seems like McD's has mandated this model of Machine and Taylor agreed to make it worse (they supply better machines without these issues to other fast food chains). Taylor profits from the service calls and I'd bet some McD's exec are getting kickbacks to keep it that way (by mandating a worse machine that makes franchise owners less money). The Kytch device came along and upset that status quo.

Yeah, and for some reason McD thinks you need a technician to fix something hard like "container overfilled" or something. And apparently even Taylor thinks this is stupid. Sounds like an "ok boomer" moment. (or maybe something involving financial incentives, can't exclude that) "Who mitms their own machine?!" Well, did Taylor fire the engineers that built this? Or they just want to keep the same limited hw and work the diagnostics part around it?

Eelongate 5y ago
If McDonald's want's to error on the side of caution, isn't that their prerogative?
- raverbashing 5y ago
  Sure, it's their prerrogative to continue squeezing their franchisees as much as they can and make their work as hard as they can. If I wanted to lose money there are less painful ways than being a McD franchisee. McD's actual business is on real estate/franchise fees. The food business is secondary and is a justification for the first. Guess which part is risky and complicated?
  - heisenbit 5y ago
    Abusive monopolistic behavior if left unchecked can lead to great evil. This was recognized a long time ago and led to anti monopoly legislation and enforcement. Just think what would have happened to the internet if AT&T‘s stranglehold over the connection of equipment to telephone lines had continued. Strangling is not a prerogative of the strongest.
- josefx 5y ago
  Problem is McDonald's isn't paying for all the unnecessary service calls, it is the restaurant owner that have to buy the McDonald's mandated machines that end up paying. So you have McDonald's which has no incentive to change things, Taylor which profits from the situation since their devices are mandated and the restaurant owners who have to foot the bill for hundreds of pointless service calls.
  - colejohnson66 5y ago
    But what does McDonald's gain from the PR backlash? Is there some perpetual contract between McDonald's and Taylor, and they just screwed up by buying a worse model? You'd think that the corporate overlords would perfer the machine to be working so they make money from the sales...
    - IG_Semmelweiss 5y ago
      Nothing. But the alternative isn't great either. Its more costly and vastly more negative from a PR perspective, for McDonalds to force franchisees to change ice cream machinery vendors. Same thing for Taylor upgrading their own machines - with the added cost that they don't have any goodwill to start. There's an added incentive here that McD wants the legal shield up at all times - they are incentivized to keep machine error rate very low, to the cost of $$ in sales lost. Consumers greatly benefit from it - we get worse availability of ice cream when we walk in, and we are paying slightly more in menu prices, but the risk of getting poisoned from eating ice cream at McD ends up extremely low.
    - jlbooker 5y ago
      > You'd think that the corporate overlords would prefer the machine to be working so they make money from the sales... And that's where the intrigue and accusations of foul play are coming in. It seems like McD's has mandated this model of Machine and Taylor agreed to make it worse (they supply better machines without these issues to other fast food chains). Taylor profits from the service calls and I'd bet some McD's exec are getting kickbacks to keep it that way (by mandating a worse machine that makes franchise owners less money). The Kytch device came along and upset that status quo.