In 1985 the first McDonald’s drive-thru restaurant in Europe opened in Rathfarnham, just south of Dublin. Since then, Ireland has kept the position as an innovative and sometimes bold part of the corporation.
”When we see a product that will enhance our customers experience, we will often take a calculated risk, and use that product”, says Equipment Manager Paul Bracken, who emphasises a daring mix of constant improvement and being keenly alive to the customers’ changing needs.
Paul does not agree with those who say that he is the reason for Ireland being a very active part of the McDonald’s corporation; ”There are a lot of people in each restaurant and every department, who work very hard to make McDonald’s in Ireland the success it is”, he claims. Still, Paul admits that he likes being involved in developing new products and concepts. It is about keeping your eyes and ears open;
”No matter what the product or service, the rule stays the same; listen to your customer and listen again.” ”This is especially important if you are in a repeat business. A customer only comes back to a restaurant if he is satisfied, and he only stays satisfied if the restaurant constantly listens to his needs and how these needs evolve over time”.
Testing the future DT-concept
At the moment McDonald’s Ireland – as the first McD division in the world – is testing a whole new drive-thru display concept from Zone Systems.The concept borrows some of the valued features from the rotating menu board system, and gives the restaurant the ability to switch easily between messages for the different day parts. It will also be used to make the customers more aware of the drive-thru lane.
”It is good that we can do this with Zone Systems. It gives us a chance to test something new for Ireland, but also be part of the development of what may be the future DT-concept for the McDonald’s restaurants in Europe, and maybe other parts of the world”.
”Innovate, all of the time”
”Still, we need to keep pushing forward. Both McDonald’s and Zone Systems are in the same situation. Even though we have great products today, we must be aware that someone out there soon will have even better products, at more competitive prices. We need to innovate, all the time”.
”That’s also why we have GROIP (Global Restaurant Operations Improvement Process) and the seven year life-cycle on our décor packages, so we – together with designers and suppliers – can renew our concepts so they are relevant to the customers’ life styles; because no matter what we do, we can always improve on it. Nothing is ever perfect”, explains Paul Bracken.
