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QSR leaders: Do you really know what's happening inside your supply chain?

It's said, you never know if you don't look. Unfortunately, many QSR operators have turned a 'blind eye' toward their supply chains under the assumption that everything is running smoothly. But fact is, unless you really look hard, you might be overlooking a huge black hole in that complex process that's sucking dollars away from your operation.

December 19, 2018 by Andrew Rosenbloom — Director of Marketing, Consolidated Concepts

Product sampling. contracting, ordering, receiving, storage, usage -- all these are among the many facets of your QSR supply chain and every one of them is a potential point where you could be throwing money down the drain. But how do you really know if that's happening? After all, any brand's centralized procurement team can only do so much to manage all these functions across locations.

And the unfortunate fact is that poor supply chain management habits and inefficient practices can easily become embedded in a brand's culture and accepted processes, sucking dollars away from operations.  Fortunately, a well-performed supply chain assessment can give you a thorough evaluation of your brand's processes and pinpoint weak spots or even breaks in the chain so you can reconnect  all the links in your supply chain and enhance daily operations and profits. 

Assessing the assessment process

A thorough supply chain assessment is focused on uncovering supply chain inefficiencies and begins with complete third-party partner access to a brand's end-to-end supply chain. Once those are uncovered, the brand's partner will suggest improvements. 

Here are some of the main components of assessment:
•    Evaluations of current contracts.
•    Ingredient usage in recipes and across menus. 
•    Degree of SKU consolidation for price optimization. 

The assessment team will then visit one or more brand locations to get a firsthand view of delivery and receiving practices, handling, storage, usage, prepping, trimming, plating, expo and even marketing. The team may take photos at each stage in the process and provide a detailed executive report. Often this is an eye-opening document for leadership who frequently gain a new appreciation and understanding of the level of small details surrounding their operations. 

Consolidated Concepts team member Mark Cimino has participated in dozens of third-party supply chain assessments and says that on-site step is a real learning experience.

"You learn a lot from the day-to-day people that are there in the restaurant. You learn what they do every day and, more importantly, why they do what they do," Cimino said. 

Common 'hidden-in-plain-sight' supply chain assessment revelations

Cimino said some of the frequent findings during supply chain assessments make it clear why this can  be a real operational boon to QSRs.   

"Incorrect pack sizes are a common issue that we uncover," he said. "A restaurant might be receiving produce in a retail pack as opposed to a foodservice pack. That means they are paying extra and spending more in the form of labor costs for chefs to open, separate and discard each pack."  

Lyons Group Director of Culinary Tim Willis said his New England restaurant concepts conducted supply chain assessments shortly after he stepped into the lead culinary role for the group. 

"I really saw that they went through every last piece of our business and took a picture of everything and asked questions to the cooks and sous-chefs — probably in more detail than I ever would have," Willis said. "They sent a report back to us that included the good, the bad and the ugly. That's the kind of insight we need in order to improve." 

Whether undertaken for a single unit or entire chain, these kinds of assessments can help brands to both see, and address the unseen operational snags that hold their concepts back. But just by participating in an assessment, supply chain teams will have a better understanding of where their money is going and how it can properly be channeled through the right kind of investments. 
 

Photo: iStock
 

About Andrew Rosenbloom

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Andy Rosenbloom is a foodservice professional who heads up the marketing team at the Buyers Edge Platform and its associated GPO brands, including Dining Alliance, Consolidated Concepts, Buyers Edge, FoodBAM and others. Andy’s insights come from a cross-section of the operators, distributors, manufacturers, service providers and trend-watchers.

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