Developing a good business sense

Phillip Shipper In this paper I will be discussing the nature of the operating systems that produce the goods and services that we receive. By answering the questions within this weeks chapter I will be able to elaborate on the operations and Materials Management involved in three companies operating systems. The three companies that I chose are Chick-fill-A, McDonald’s, and Wendy. I chose these companies because they are all in the fast food Industry and I feel that they eave some similarities when it comes to running and operating their business.

Chalk; fill-A was started in the asses, by founder Truest Cathy with inventing Chick-fill-As boneless breast of chicken sandwich. Mr.. Cathy started the establishment of restaurants In shopping malls with the opening of the first Chick-fill-A Restaurant at a mall in suburban Atlanta In 1967. This family owned company is considered to be a quick-service restaurant specializing in chicken. McDonald’s was opened on December 12, 1948 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald.

Mac Dona’s specializes In a self-service operation serving hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, shakes, etc. Wend’s is an International fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on September 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Wendy is the third largest hamburger fast food chain. The employees at all three companies are very hard workers because of the popularity of each of the companies. At Chick-fill-A I have noticed that they do stay busy from open to close with not much down time and the same can be said about most McDonald’s as well.

At all three companies the employees have to work together as a team to put out quality food and maintain a clean environment. At Chick-fill-A they have to be someone taking orders and making drinks at In the restaurant, someone bagging food, someone preparing food, and someone Just at the drive-thru. At McDonald’s and Wend’s you have some of the same systems as Chick-fill-A, but it is more so a mass production, so you have assembly line to keep up with the high demand. The mall types of MOM costs are raw materials and components, labor, Inventory and distribution.

Operating costs for a company is the recurring expenses, which is related to the day to day operation of the business. There are two categories of companies. Fixed costs are the same everyday even if the company is closed, while variable costs may increase depending on the production and how it is done. All companies will have overhead costs that are needed simply for the business and company to operate, such as electricity, rental or leasing a building, etc. In order to make predictions about future profits and losses.

An example is that McDonald’s has ass-production process which requires each restaurants chain to have a distribution network to carry the food to every restaurant. These warehouses store large amounts of everything that a restaurant may need. This includes foods, paper products and even cleaning supplies. The warehouses will ship supplies to each restaurant by truck. This means that the company can purchase items in bulk and keep cost down. Each company has its own design of how their operating system can give them a competitive advantage.

For McDonald’s they changed the design of restaurant itched. Instead of having lots of different equipment and stations for preparing a wide of variety food, they had a very large grill where one person could cook lots of burgers simultaneously, a dressing station where people added the same condiments to every burger, a fryer where one person made French fries, a soda fountain and milkshake machine for desserts and beverages, and a counters where customers placed and received their orders. They formulated this systems and business that followed behind them used the same system.

In order to keep up with he consumers and to stay on top McDonald’s and the other restaurants expand their menus to add variety with items such as salads, seasonal milkshakes, new menu items, etc. In conclusion, I have learned that each company Chick-fill-A, McDonald’s, and Wendy, although they are mainly the same in most of their operating systems, they do have some differences. In researching these companies, I noticed that they have found what works for them and their consumers and they have stuck to that. As mom always says ” If it’s not broke don’t fix fix it. “