Operations at Kentucky Fried Chicken Fast Food Chain (Essay Sample)

Operations at Kentucky Fried Chicken Fast-Food Restaurant Student’s Name University Course Professor Date Operations at Kentucky Fried Chicken Fast-Food Restaurant Summary This report analyzes the characteristics of operations at the Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food restaurant. It finds that the fast-food chain has high volume and low variety, variation, and visibility. The report recommends improvement in cost-effectiveness by ensuring managerial productivity. Introduction Since its initial establishment in 1930 in Louisville, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has expanded operations in over one hundred countries. It is renowned for its fried chicken recipe composed of eleven secret spices and herbs (Uddin, 2020). KFC’s operations are characterized by quick service and making consumer deliveries. This report will examine the operation characteristics of KFC as observed from an outlet in Doha, Qatar on 17th February 2024. The four Vs of its operation, that is volume, variety, variation, and visibility will be examined in the report. Additionally, the layout of the restaurant and technology application in its processes will be reviewed. Finally, a recommendation that will promote operations at the outlet will be made. The 4 Vs and characteristics of the Operations Volume KFC has a high volume of products since it serves many consumers. According to Bamford et al. (2023), operation systems with high volume are characterized by high repetition of tasks and great work division among employees. This is the case at KFC since each employee specializes in a specific task that they do repetitively throughout their shift, for instance, the employees at the counter stick to serving consumers without interfering with other processes like meal preparation. The same applies to other leading fast food restaurants like McDonald's which are KFC’s competitors. High capital investment is needed to sustain the high quantity of products and services like the advanced technology used by KFC for placement of online orders. High systematization results and low cost per unit. Variety KFC has a low variety of products since it has a standardized system. The restaurant specializes in fast food only that is chicken pieces accompanied by other fast foods like burgers and chips. Most high-volume operations like KFC have a low variety of products since they have well-defined operations (Uddin, 2020). The low variety thus reduces the flexibility of the restaurant resulting in an inability to match consumer needs. Some fast food restaurants have a relatively higher flexibility, for instance, McDonald's offers a special menu during Ramadan to meet the needs of more consumers. The unit cost of items remains low at KFC because production cost is shared among the high number of product units. Variation KFC has a low variation of demands. Variation represents the likelihood of operation changes in response to customer demand (Bamford, 2023). In KFC, the demand patterns are stable and unchanging. The flow of customers is higher in the afternoons and evenings compared to the mornings and nights. Low variation enables KFC to forecast the flow of consumers in a day hence high utilization of resources. The only resources used per day are just enough to meet the needs of the estimated number of customers. This utilization of input translates to low costs per unit. Other service operations like tourism have high variations in demand and this eventually translates to high cost per unit. Visibility KFC operations have low visibility to customers. As mentioned earlier, the restaurant has a secret recipe and secret ingredients that consumers are not allowed to see. Therefore, food preparation operations are not visible to clients (Bamford et al., 2023). Employees have low contact skills, especially the kitchen staff since they barely interact with customers. The standardized operations at the restaurant also minimize the need for high-skill requirements for contract employees (Husna et al., 2020). The unit cost remains low since low-skilled labor is easily available. Low visibility works well in fast foods but might not apply in other food service operations like private catering. Private chefs operate in positions where they can easily be monitored by the clients and they need high contact skills to accomplish their tasks. Process Layout and Technology Application 40481251028700003609976400050Customer’s Order00Customer’s Order Figure 1: Standard KFC Modern Process Layout (Source: https://mba-tutorials.com/kfc-jamaica-operation-and-services-flow/) KFC has experienced several changes in the operations process due to changes in management since its invention by Colonel Harland Sanders. Currently, most of their outlets are franchised but there are regular checks to ensure that the outlets are operating up to the required standards. Figure 1 illustrates the new process layout that all KFC outlets use. The process begins with the arrival of raw materials like chicken and spices where their quality is inspected before storage. The material is then transferred to the cooking area where preparations such as cutting and marinating are done. The chicken pieces are also coated with breading and cooked using fryers. The Work In Progress (WIP) area is where other operations like the preparation of side dishes like salads are done. At the assembly point, the chicken and other dishes are combined. This is where the customers place their orders since it is at the counters or drive-thru windows. Orders are packed according to customer’s preferences and issued to them. The delivery point is where orders that were placed online are set for delivery. The layout of the KFC outlet is simplified for easy movement and reduces hazards to employees. The stores are brightly lit for smooth coordination and supervision given their high volume of products. The stations are set with the necessary equipment to accomplish specific tasks. This reduces bottlenecks and costs resulting from material handling (Uddin, 2020). The color schemes are ...