Process Selection

The Process selection for McDonalds starts with the Product Flow, which my group and I feel would be considered a job shop because it is making products only to a customer order using a process layout. McDonalds products are stocked pre cooked but when a customer makes an order the product is finished and is made to the customers order. Job Shop has a high flexibility which is key to McDonalds success (example: a hamburger with no pickles) and also a high volume of production because of the billions of customers McDonalds serves on a daily basis.

McDonalds classification by type of Customer Order we feel could be considered either a Make to Order or Assemble to Order, because in a MTO process individuals orders can be identified during production and then made to the customer specifications. The MTO process's cycle of production and order fulfillment begins with the customer order and then after receiving the order the design must be completed. The most important part of this process is the length of time it takes to fully deliver the product after the order has been placed, this is called the Lead Time. For restaurants like McDonalds this is definitely the biggest factor because without speed it wouldn’t be called Fast Food.

Assemble to Order could also work because in this process subassemblies are built up in advance of demand and is then put together at the last minute. Since some of McDonalds food is delivered pre cooked this could be considered the subassembly and once the customers order is placed this item is then put together to meet the customers needs. McDonalds subassemblies are also modular because each one of their hamburgers start off with all the same ingredients and everything is exactly the same until a customer changes it.