Wendy’s on Tuesday unveiled a new kitchen design that the company promises improves throughput by 50% while cutting back on the amount of walking its workers do just to fetch some orders.
The Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain’s new “Global Next Gen High Capacity Kitchen” features several innovations designed to increase throughput and improve life for the chain’s employees and customers.
The kitchen, which follows the chain’s Global Next Gen design that Wendy’s says can handle 400 times the digital orders of a typical location, comes as the burger chain is pushing aggressive growth. The company said it expects 200 of the High Capacity Kitchens to be built by the end of next year.
The kitchen design is targeted at restaurants with the “highest customer demand.” The kitchen increases output by nearly 50% when compared with a typical “Next Gen” restaurant, the company said.
It features a dual-sided kitchen layout and increased capacity for equipment. There are additional sandwich production areas, more prep areas and dedicated space for digital orders.
The kitchen design also reduces travel distances for crew members, with a strategically placed front counter and drive-thru and additional storage capacity to improve overall flow and speed of service. Workers who need to walk longer distances to grab orders or restock drink cups can slow service in the drive-thru, for instance.
The kitchen also incorporates innovations from the chain’s Global Next Gen prototype, such as self-order kiosks, pick-up windows and parking spaces for delivery drivers and more technology integration throughout the restaurant.
Wendy's new restaurant design features self-order kiosks and pickup shelves.
“The new high-capacity kitchen design maximizes kitchen throughput for restaurants with the highest volume using Global Next Gen design innovation as the foundation for success,” Abigail Pringle, president of international and chief development officer for Wendy’s, said in a statement.
Wendy’s is eager to build new units in the U.S. and internationally, believing that its performance should be worthy of a larger number of restaurants. It has signed key development deals in places such as Australia. But it has been hampered somewhat at home by permitting delays that have lengthened development timelines.
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