Aerial Footage Helps Operators Streamline Order-Taking and Delivery
Like other businesses, franchises invest in technology to increase efficiency. What first comes to mind is using technology to help with chores such as setting appointments, tracking project progress, bookkeeping, calculating wages and taxes, and monitoring inventory. Chick-fil-A, ever the innovating fast-food brand, uses drone footage to improve operations.
The Wall Street Journal reported on a case in point: A Rockford, Ill., Chick-fil-A was swamped by cars that crept along two drive-through lanes as some workers took orders on tablet computers and others delivered bags of food and beverages to drivers. Workers needed just 13 seconds to serve each car in the drive-thru lane, a feat that helped set a sales record for that Illinois Chick-fil-A.
But could service time be further reduced? To pursue that goal, the restaurant’s operator, Philip Everett, and a support team from Chick-fil-A’s Atlanta headquarters viewed video from a flying drone and security cameras in the kitchen that documented the crush. The Chick-fil-A video team reviewed the footage, spliced from both sources, to determine that Everett should assign more employees to drive-through duties, especially order-taking. The analysis also found that staff taking orders needed Wi-Fi with a wider range.
Old-School Method, Then Inspiration
Before drone technology became widely accessible, Chick-fil-A operators sometimes resorted to observing traffic flow from the restaurants’ roofs. Now video, aerial views plus footage from kitchens and service windows, provides a better, easier path to analysis.
Chick-fil-A executive Will McFaddin said the drone idea came as he watched then-New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees study game replays on the sidelines. “We can break down drive-through game film just like they break down football game film,” McFaddin thought at the time. In late 2017, he hired a pilot to fly a drone over a Sacramento, Calif., Chick-fil-A.
McFaddin took footage from the drone and from security cameras in the indoor production zone to the basketball office at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, his alma mater. They created a game film that McFaddin discussed with his team. Ultimately Chick-fil-A hired drone pilots throughout the U.S. to document drive-through operations at its locations. The follow-up troubleshooting provided insights that helped the 3,000-plus-unit brand operate drive-through lanes efficiently during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Importance of Drive-Throughs
Drive-through success is considered crucial for fast-food franchises’ success today. About 43% of fast-food orders are placed at drive-throughs, bringing in $140 billion a year, according to The Journal, citing market-research firm Circana. Many harried customers even eat the food in their cars, Circana also reported.
QSR magazine’s 2022 Drive-Thru Report stated that 78% of customers named convenience as their No. 1 reason for using drive-throughs. Brands now cater to that, minimizing and even forgoing dining rooms. For example, McDonald’s has tested a no-dining-room floor plan called CosMc’s. In August, Chick-fil-A opened a to-go-only model equipped with four drive-through lanes that can serve 700 cars in an hour; that restaurant – which delivers orders to cars with a dumbwaiter-like system – can handle twice as many orders as a traditional Chick-fil-A restaurant model.
Chick-fil-A’s History of Innovation
The Wall Street Journal noted that Chick-fil-A’s drone studies and four-drive-through-lane model are just the most recent of the brand’s innovations. Others include:
- Chick-fil-A used a special high-pressure frying process when it launched in 1967.
- The brand opened its first drive-through-only location in 1993 with anticipated sales of $750,000, but it earned nearly double that projection.
- Starting in the early 2000s, Chick-fil-A sought to increase its cooking and serving capacity, so over a four-year period it overhauled its restaurant layouts to accommodate larger fryers and vent hoods.
- During the Covid pandemic, when dining rooms closed and restaurants prioritized takeout, Chick-fil-A was a marvel of efficiency. Many of its restaurants set up additional drive-through lanes parallel to their original single drive-through lanes. They deployed outdoor workers to take motorists’ orders, process payments and deliver completed orders.
Drone Delivery of Orders
Chick-fil-A also has used drones to deliver orders, Nation’s Restaurant News reported in November 2023. The pilot program was in Brandon, Fla. (In addition, the article noted that Chick-fil-A has tested robotic waiters in dining rooms.)Several other brands hope to implement drone deliveries of their food orders. Nation’s Restaurant News reported last March that Wendy’s has conducted tests in Christiansburg, Va. The publication said other brands such as Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, Jersey Mike’s, Little Caesars and Pap Johns are experimenting with drone delivery, too.
