Noodles & Company’s Operations Management

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Institution Affiliation

Today, the business environment is constantly changing, with businesses also diverting focus on operations management. Operation management is the administration of resources and processes needed by a firm in the production of products and services (Barnes, 2018, p. 5). In the business world today, corporations are keen on operations management to achieve the highest level of efficiency achievable (Kenton, 2019). An excellent example of a business that relies mostly on operations management is the Noodles & Company. It attributes its success over the years to excellent operations management. The fast-food restaurant focuses on business operations and functions to ensure it achieves quality services and efficient service delivery to customers.

Noodles & Company

Noodle & Company is a fast food restaurant based in America, having its headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado. The firm currently serves 29 states across the US and also has its operations in Europe, Canada, India, Asia, and Africa. Since being founded in 1995, the company has dedicated a vast amount of resources and time to ensure that its operations management ensures that it serves quality fast-foods fast and efficiently (Noodles & Company, 2020). Such actions on focusing on operations management have enabled the business to achieve tremendous success, expanding its operations to new markets over the years. The restaurant’s operations management was developed by focusing on the restaurant’s competitive priorities.

Competitive Priorities

The operations management currently possessed by the restaurant was developed through the use of an operations strategy. The strategy leads to the specification of the needs of the restaurant’s strategy to its operations by focusing on the competitive priorities. According to Jitpaiboon et al. (2016), competitive priorities refer to the crucial dimensions that a firm’s operations ought to possess to satisfy customers. Competitive priorities can, therefore, be regarded as a guidance of the business’ operations, since the various aspects of the operations ought to focus on supporting the competitive priority (Reid & Sanders, 2019, p. 35). At Noodles & Company, there are various competitive priorities that its operations focus on, such as quality, delivery, and customer focus.

Noodles & Company’s Competitive Priorities

Foremost, the restaurant prioritizes on quality of fast foods it serves its customers. Quality is among the restaurant’s competitive priorities, and it gives directions to the restaurant’s operations (Collier & Evans, 2016, p. 54). Through having quality as a competitive priority, the restaurant achieves align its manufacturing and service processes to serve fresh quality hot dishes. The various operations from the counter to the kitchen to the dining area, are all aimed at ensuring the serving of hot quality fresh fast-foods. The restaurant was founded on the principle that the customers should not sacrifice quality when they require speed, leading to the next competitive priority of time.

The second competitive priority that the restaurant’s operations are aligned with is delivery or time. Noodles & Company was founded to deliver fast foods at a fast speed without compromising on the quality of the meals. Such actions demonstrate the employment of lean manufacturing which is aimed at the elimination of waste while adding value to consumers (Davim, 2018, p. 70). The waste resource being eliminated is time resource as meals are prepared fast. The restaurant aligns its operations from the counter to the kitchen and finally to the dining room to be efficient to ensure that customers receive their ordered hot fast-foods at approximately 6 minutes or less, eliminating wastage of time. The restaurant prioritizes the fast delivery of food to a customer since it creates better service delivery and also customer satisfaction. Therefore, through aligning the operations to be focused on fast delivery, the restaurant achieves to ensure customer satisfaction.

Another competitive priority of Noodles & Company is customer focus. The success of the company over the years is because of the operations being aligned with a customer focus. Customer focus is about the fulfilment of a customer’s needs and includes several services such as product support and customer information (Awwad et al., 2010). Noodles & Company have its operations management focused on customer focus. An excellent example of how the restaurant has aligned its operation to customer focus is in the lobby. From the moment a customer enters the restaurant, there are pictures to engage the customer to know their preferred food instead of thinking of the food they want. Such measures ensure the restaurant is focused on customers, which therefore contributes to the operations management effective.

Processes

Moreover, effective operations management is also concerned with effective manufacturing processes. In Noodles & Company, there are various processes adopted to ensure efficient production. The first process in the restaurant is the guest interaction which lasts about 30 seconds. The entrance of the restaurant has a menu that engages the customer to make them aware of the dish they desire. After knowing the dish a customer wants, they will go ahead to place the order. A card is given to customers which they place on their tables, waiting for their dish to be prepared. Once the order is placed, the dish is displayed on a monitor where the employees in the kitchen can then prepare the ordered dish quickly.

The second process is at the silver bowl station, which lasts about 15 to 30 seconds. Under the process, the employees pick the recipes required to prepare the ordered dish. The next processes are through the sauté line and lastly through the garnish station. The entire process is designed to ensure that the dishes are prepared within 5 to 6 minutes, ensuring that the customer is quickly served quality hot dishes. The figure below is a service blueprint of the restaurant’s processes.

3583305425154Preparations

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3931277-68834701901633428300Orderr

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1679944339769-38227063913Customer

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-8506032960948985163500Guest Interaction

Guest Interaction

462494141419731789134145371989130170962Silver Bowl Station

Silver Bowl Station

3435527170608Sauté Line

Sauté Line

4988147172971Garnish Station

Garnish Station

4816017259863Serving

00Serving

5560680216195

4065920150200Customer

0Customer

42212594349754936623193601Dining

Dining

Operations and Processes Design

Firstly, the restaurant has design its operations to be fast through the division of tasks. Right from the lobby to the kitchen, the staffs are divided, having various responsibilities to perform. Some employees are concerned with the ordering process, which is then reflected in the two monitors placed in the kitchen; on the sauté line and the garnish station. In the kitchen, staff are divided into the two stations. Such division of tasks enables the preparation of order dishes within four to five minutes. According to Khanna (2015), time as a competitive priority is concerned with on-time delivery which Noodles & Company is keen on. Therefore, through divisions of tasks, the restaurant enables on-time delivery of the dishes.

The other way through which the restaurant designs its operations and processes to achieve quality meals is on fresh produces. There is a prepped inventory which ensures that the restaurant achieves the use of fresh vegetables and produces. The prepped inventory is updated every mornings and evening, and thus facilitates the use of quality fresh produce that enables the serving of quality dishes. Consequently, the Noodles & Company can achieve its competitive priority of quality and customer focus.

Noodles & Company Fail-safe

Noodles & Company fail-safe its processes by having job aides at every station in the kitchen. Having the job aides at the stations as fail-safe ensures that the employees in the kitchen use the right tools for success. Fail-safes are processes or mechanism instituted in the operations to mitigate the occurrence of disasters (Lee, 2016). The right tools in the restaurant include the measurements of the ingredients, the amount of heat, and the recipes, ensuring the quality of dishes and service. Thus, through having job aides at every station in the kitchen as fail-safes mechanism facilitates the serving of quality dishes to customers, smoothening the entire process of meal preparations.

Customer Satisfaction

On the other hand, the fast-food restaurant achieves customer requirements aligning its operations towards customer satisfaction. Foremost, Noodles & Company can achieve the customer requirements by having all procedures and process aligned to meeting customer requirements. The other way that the restaurant achieves customer requirements and satisfaction is through the use of fresh vegetables and produce. Noodles & Company is focused on serving quality fresh dishes quickly through the use of fresh produce which it stocks in its freezers. The quick serving and preparations of dishes are facilitated by the way the ingredients are lined up in the kitchen and division of tasks, among others. Such actions are aimed at customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, Noodles & Company uses lean operations that facilitate greater customer satisfaction. Lean operations are the use of minimum resources to improve customer satisfaction (Modi, 2017, p. 245). The restaurant ensures that the customers wait only for approximately 6 minutes or less for quality dishes to be prepared and served hot. Such actions save time, therefore, increasing customer satisfaction.

Smooth Flows

Operations management is also concerned with service processes where it is essential to ensure the smooth flow of customers, goods, and information, which is vital to the restaurant’s success. According to Parker (2018), businesses today are developing service processes aimed at improving service delivery, and such service processes are evident in the restaurant’s smooth flow of customers, goods, and information. The restaurant first achieves smooth flow of customers through interactions such as menu which assists them to know what they would like to order. During ordering, a number card is given to them which they would place on the tables for identification. Additionally, after ordering, there are soft drinks displayed which customers can take as they wait to be served. The restaurant also ensures the smooth flow of goods through the first in first out (FIFO) rotation policy.

The other way that the operations support the smooth flow of information is through the use of monitors and card numbers given to customers after ordering. Employing technology in changing services processes is efficient in achieving improvements while supporting customer service. The monitors are placed in the kitchen to display the orders, facilitating a smooth flow of information. Smooth flow of both people, goods, and information are contributing factors to effective operations.

Noodles & Company Layout

The layout of the restaurant is designed to facilitate a smooth and effective flow of operations. The positioning of interactions, including the menu, at the entrances, facilitates the choice of the desired dishes by customers. Instead of guessing which meal to take, the interactions facilitate the choice of the dishes smoothening the operations. Additionally, the positioning of soft drinks at the ready-to-drink cooler enables customers to conveniently choose their desired drink to take as they wait for their dishes to be prepared.

On the other hand, the kitchen’s layout is also designed to support the restaurant’s operations. The lining of vegetables, noodles, and other ingredients facilitate the easier and fast picking of ingredients. The restaurant has a specific line up where the vegetables flow, noodles, and sauté dishes. Such specific positioning of ingredients is vital as it helps the restaurant’s employees to prepare the dishes within the 4 to 5 minutes. The layouts adopted by the restaurant facilitates the services of operations to be smooth and effective. According to Slack (2018), getting the process details correctly is beneficial as it leads to effective operations. Therefore, the layout is a contributing factor that enables the effective operations of the restaurant.

Inventory Management

Noodles & Company manages its inventory through regular prepping. Inventory management is essential as it targets the equilibrium among customer service and investment (Ivanov et al., 2017, p. 347). In the restaurant, prepping is commonly used in the walking cooler where fresh produce and vegetables are kept. The vegetables are regularly prepped to ensure the smooth flow of goods and ensuring the use of fresh produce. Prepping is usually done in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Such inventory management is essential as it ensures quality dishes is served to customers, contributing to effective operations management.

Staffing Arrangement

For adequate and fast preparation of dishes, the restaurant employs the use of division of tasks. Back in the kitchen, the employees are divided into various roles with some being in the sauté line and others in the garnish station. The staffing arrangement at the restaurant is based on capacity management, where the restaurant exploits its prospective activities, achieving better results (McVay et al., 2017). Therefore, the productive capacity management of employees through the division of tasks enables the restaurant to achieve higher success.

Conclusion and Recommendation

In Summary, the Noodles & Company achieves its competitive priorities of quality fast-foods timely and ensures customer focus through having its operations being aligned to the priorities. Such measures by the restaurant have seen it grow, reaching new markets while ensuring customer satisfaction. The restaurant’s processes from guest interaction to the garnish station are all designed to ensure fast serving of quality fresh dishes. Noodles & Company’s operations management is, however, effective and requires little or less improvement. The operations of the restaurant can be improved by focusing on the counter by adding more counters to ease the flow of the line when ordering. However, the operations at the restaurant are effective in ensuring fast quality serving of fast-foods.

References

Awwad, A., Al Khattab, A., & Anchor, J. R. (2010). Competitive priorities and competitive advantage in Jordanian manufacturing. Journal of Science and Management 6(1), DOI:10.4236/jssm.2013.61008.

Barnes, D. (2018). Operations management. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Collier, D. A., & Evans, J. R. (2016). OM. Cengage Learning.

Davim, J. P. (Ed.). (2018). Progress in lean manufacturing. Springer.

Ivanov, D., Tsipoulanidis, A., & Schönberger, J. (2017). Global supply chain and operations management. A Decision-Oriented Introduction to the Creation of Value.

Jitpaiboon, T., Gu, Q., & Truong, D. (2016). Evolution of competitive priorities towards performance improvement: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Production Research, 54(24), 7400-7420.

Kenton, W. (2019). Operations management. Retrieved on June 17, 2020, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operations-management.asp#:~:text=Operations%20management%20is%20the%20administration,the%20profit%20of%20an%20organization.

Khanna, R. B. (2015). Production and operations management. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..Lee, W. D. (2016). Fail-Safe 101: An introduction to failures in leadership and management. Spectrum Group.

McVay, G., Kennedy, F., & Fullerton, R. (2017). Accounting in the lean enterprise: providing simple, practical, and decision-relevant information. CRC Press.

Modi, A. A. (2017). Essentials of operations management. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..Noodles & Company. (2020). About Noodles & Company. Retrieved on June 17, 2020, from https://www.noodles.com/about-noodles/

Parker, D. W. (2018). Service operations management, second edition: The total experience. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Reid, R. D., & Sanders, N. R. (2019). Operations management: an integrated approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Slack, N. (2018). Essentials of operations management. Pearson UK.