Get Ready for a Quantum Leap in Drive-through

Drive-through service can represent a huge part of sales for a fast-food franchise -- 70 percent at a typical Burger King franchise. The largest franchise chains this year may finally be in a position to make major breakthroughs from the standard 3 minutes in drive-through time. The Associated Press reports that fast-food chains are positioned to make major improvements in pushing drive-through throughput by doing the following.

Companies are trimming bulky text from menus, using computer programs that guess upcoming orders, and routing order-taking duties to call centers. While speed remains a benchmark of success, the average service time hasn't been cut much below about three minutes for the last five years. That's why many chains are focusing instead on cutting down on the number of mistakes in orders and making ordering easier.

Better streamlining of the ordering and production process as well as minimizing re-do rates will certainly help drop the 3 minute benchmark and is a major step in raising franchise profits. This may be the year in which franchise staff will significantly drop drive-in throughput times with fewer mistakes.