Worldwide Franchise Convention

Well it’s been a massive 4 days! The convention is unlike anything else I’ve ever experience in McDonald’s. Over 700 sq feet of exhibits and displays... I didn’t even get to see everything in the 4 days! After arriving late on Sunday night, we had a bit of sleep in before heading across to the Orange County Convention Centre. We are staying at the JW Marriott Hotel at Grande Lakes, and it is a very nice hotel, albeit in the middle of nowhere!

Arriving after lunch meant we had missed the opening global session, so we spent the afternoon wandering around the equipment section. All of the different suppliers from around the globe had an exhibition stand with the latest and greatest equipment technology they had developed for McDonald’s. Some of the interesting things were the accu-salt dispenser, 3 platen grill, rapid toaster for muffins and pre-cracked egg holders. We were also able to try a few different products from around the world. In the middle of all the exhibits, they had set up a 4 kitchen, 16 line production centre to feed convention goers all day long. Each kitchen was staffed by a different country from around the world, and each day they would serve 3 menu items and fries from around the world. They would also sample McCafe beverages and desserts... and yes this was all free!! I have never seen so much food and drink on offer before! As well as this massive McDonald’s kitchen platform, there were also 9 different buffets, dessert kiosks and beverages practically around every corner! Food overload.

On Tuesday we attended the second global session where Ralph Alverez, Worldwide Chief Operations Officer gave an update on how the system has been performing globally since the last worldwide convention in 2006. Amazingly since 2006 McDonald’s has made more than 63 billions dollars in revenue... and any guesses for how much Australia represents?? Just over the 3 billion mark. Makes us seem pretty insignificant in the scheme of things! After this session I met up with the McOpCo franchise consultants and we spent some time exploring the CSO and People interactive exhibits. The afternoon was followed by a business session for APMEA – of which Australia is a part of. (Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa). On Tuesday night we had a QLD Licensee dinner at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. It was a great night with some great entertainment courtesy of the Blues Brothers. This was followed by drinks in the Hospitality Suite back at the Australian Hotel. Trust the Aussie’s to put on drinks every night following “official” functions!

On Wednesday I spent some time exploring the Supply Chain, Promotions and Marketing, Decor and Design and Profit areas. It was good to just wander around all the different exhibits and take it all in. That night we had an Australian/New Zealand/South Africa cocktail reception at the hotel. Followed again by the hospitality suite! On the final day, Robyn and I made a quick trip out to the Premium Outlets which were about 10 minutes away. We spent about 2 hours checking out the shops, and I did a good job of saving myself for New York! I only made 2 purchases. Then I met Rod and Gary at the convention centre, and we spent the afternoon exploring the Innovation section. McDonald’s have designed what they call “d10” – destination 2010; the store of the future. We had seen virtual presentations of which this store might look like in Australia before, but here at the convention they had a full “d10” store set up on the floor. It is a reverse line, modular Made-For-You kitchen, based on something they call a “hub and spoke” platform. Basically, it has been designed to add or take away kitchen sections based on the needs of the restaurant. The service area no longer has “queues”, but customers can order either for a kiosk, or front counter service point. They then move across to the “pick up” zone and wait for their number to come up. As a reverse line MFY kitchen, customers can also clearly see their food being prepared. McDonald’s are aiming to be more transparent to customers with product preparation. Food is initiated at multiple points within the kitchen, and fed back down under the line on a conveyor belt. At the fry station, they have developed an automatic salting machine. Basically you drain the fries and tip them onto a ledge next to the fry station, salt is dispensed onto them and they are the automatically dumped into the fry bagging tray. The rapid steamer is now an installment on the actual line. It is two raised circular mesh plates and the buns in placed directly on to it, with the clam over the top. It steams in under 5 seconds! They have also optimised products on the line to increase holding times in the UHC, and to allow preheated hotcakes to be also held in the UHC. The final part of the “d10” platform is fast forward drive thru. This is where parking bays are eliminated, and in line with the modular equipment station set up of the kitchen, there are now 2 present booths. The cashier will now also act as a presenter for small orders that are ready immediately. For larger orders cars will proceed to the following window to pick their items up. The car behind can then pull out around them, and not get stuck in the drive-thru. The next initiative in development is “dial & deliver drive-thru” where customer place an order before arriving, and park in a special order delivery bay, and their order is delivered upon arrival! What will they think of next!

The final part of the week, was a worldwide reception on Thursday night back at the convention centre... with special guest Rod Stewart. He put on a 90 minute show including his most well known songs. A great way to finish the week in Orlando. Now New York here I come!