[Best Practices] The Quality 'Cs' of McDonald's

What does McDonald’s do to continually attain its goal of not only “serving a quality meal every time,” but also ensuring food safety across its U.S. system and providing safe food to its more than 25 million customers each day?

Its best practices focus on the Cs: customer, culture, communication, collaboration, and continued improvement, said Susan Forsell, vice president of quality systems, supply chain management, McDonald’s USA, in her keynote address at the March Food Safety and Security Summit in Washington D.C. These Cs are:

Customer — Fulfilling the trust that its customers put in McDonald’s products and its brand is a fundamental  mission of the company. As part of its commitment to listening to and communicating with its customers, “being open and direct about the facts surrounding our people, our food and our restaurants,” McDonald’s has created a series of podcasts — audio and video broadcasts available through its Web site — about “The McDonald’s You Don’t Know,” Forsell said. The podcasts focus on topics ranging from Moms and McDonalds to Food Safety to Quality Assurance. And for those would rather read than listen the information is also available on fact sheets. The information is at www.mcdonalds.com/corp/podcasts.html and www.mcdonalds.com/corp/about/factsheets.html.

Culture — Since the days of Founder Ray Kroc, this quick service restaurant (QSR) has built a culture of high standards, and it continues to revolve around that culture today, with standards of quality, service, cleanliness and value. As one associate put it, “You make a choice, a conscious decision to commit to quality every day and it comes from the heart.” Examples of company-wide standards include: Each restaurant is required to conduct 72 specific safety protocols each day; 2,160 safety checks and procedures are conducted monthly and 25,920 annually; every incoming shipment of beef is tested for E.coli, and then held until tests return. All testing results are shared with USDA. These cultural standards also are expected of McDonald’s suppliers, many of which have been working with the QSR for more than 30 years. As noted in an online Facts Summary sheet, its food “comes only from certified suppliers who are audited and inspected on a regular basis,” and “more than 2,000 safety, quality and inspection checks surround McDonald’s food as it moves from the farms to our restaurants.”

Communication and Collaboration — Open sharing of information is essential to McDonald’s success, including statistical process control tracking, plant level sensory programs and a complete sharing of data. And when it comes to the topic of food safety, there is no such thing as competition. “McDonald’s does not consider food safety as a competitive advantage,” Forsell said. In fact, suppliers are expected to share food safety best practices, and to facilitate this, McDonald’s has food safety and product technology councils and brings its suppliers together to drive HACCP across the chain. Even a quick perusal of McDonald’s Web site, with its fact sheets, FAQs and executive biographies, provides further evidence of an openness of communication reflecting this standing policy.

Continued Improvement — Continuous improvement involves work and dedication, it is not something that will simply build on its own. “We have to continually challenge ourselves and fight complacency,” Forsell said. At the food processing level, she said, plants should challenge themselves in areas such as maintaining the best systems possible, innovation and taking and maintaining a leadership role.

Lisa Lupo is staff editor of QA magazine.