On the one hand, a company such as Burger King Corporation reaches across many physical and corporate boundaries. The firm is responsible for how approximately 360,000 people dress for work. To put this in perspective, take the countries of Iceland and Granada, combine their collective peoples and then figure out what they can all wear. And you might consider offering them a few options (or they may choose to go live and work elsewhere). And while on the subject, remember that the clothing you choose must be appropriate to wear in about 58 different countriesthe current number of nations with Burger King restaurants. A bit easier to manage, though still a clothing task of sizable proportion, are the 23,000 employees who work for Steak N Shake. Restaurant locations for this chain may be found in just one countrythe United States. But over the decades, locations have spilled through the Indiana borders into 18 other states. The options for apparel are kept to a clean minimum herealthough your stylish, required-to-wear bow tie does come in both red and black. The apparel program at this company showcases the profound (and successful) sense of functionality that permeates the restaurant chains entire operation.
Over in the Washington, DC, and Maryland area, there is a six-location operation called Austin Grill. Its solution to just the right clothing for the casual dining experience has landed its employees in t-shirts. While there are other elements to the non-uniform looking uniforms, the focus of attention is on the artistic images across a servers chest. Unlike what the infamous restaurant chain Hooters chooses to highlight on the body, the fronts of these servers offer an ever-changing display of colorful Tex-Mex designs.
We do a lot of research in the retail market,begins May Payne-Cvengros, the individual directing uniform operations for the entire Burger King Corporation global workforce. We look at what is happening now in fashion and what is likely to happen in the future. When we roll out a uniform program, it takes quite a long time for it to come to fruition. It is typically a full year or longer to get a product in the system.
Any plans also must include keeping a watchful eye on the current programs inventory levels. Plans for designs and the manufacturing of a new program must allow for the transition of inventory to avoid getting stuck with too much old merchandise. Cvengros is officially the Manager of Operational Services, meaning uniforms are just one of the items she oversees. She has managed uniforms for Burger King Corporation for 13 years in various roles from marketing to strategic planning.
Really, my office designs and writes the specifications. Then this spec is sent to the different regions that manage operations around the world. We operate in 58 countries, and I send the spec out currently to nine different regions.
The critical reason for dispensing a spec internally is that, for Burger King Corporation internationally, all the product does not come from one source. Items in any program are sourced according to their region. For instance, the Latin American market may source from vendors separate from those manufacturers who outfit the U.S. workforce.
This may go against the conventional wisdom that buying more from one vendor improves the supply chain and bottom line, but even at these high-volume apparel scales, there are valid reasons behind the approach. Yes, we outfit for 360,000 people, but goods are sourced differently for each market for a number of reasons. For example, there may be a tariff in Canada for goods coming from China. So because of that, they potentially can source more economically at a regional level than automatically using the source chosen to produce garments for the U.S. market.
There are some variations in the product by country. What is first put together is the core programa spec based on using the U.S. program. Then, purchasing and marketing people in countries around the world may put a spin on the items according to their different regions. For instance, if alpha sizing is a problem in a particular area, the manufacturers will be asked to go by a blended sizing (i.e., 8 /10, 12/14).
Putting the uniforms in the hands of so many people in so many places is a logistics puzzle. Burger King Corporation solves this once again by dividing the world by regionsso distribution again is handled by at least nine different parties globally. As an example, King Uniform handles the U.S. market distribution. This firm, operating from a large Atlanta, Ga. warehouse, is a separate company from Burger King and considered the master distributor for all domestic required uniforms.
The actual uniform items are sourced from various manufacturers who send product to King Uniform, based on a King Uniform-issued purchase order. King then manages and distributes goods to the end-user (in this case a restaurant). All the franchisees call and/or fax King for product.
There is also a separate company that handles all the purchasing, explains Cvengros. We write the specs and the RSI Company makes the purchases. They direct King Uniform, who then handles the distribution.
The current uniform program has been running for three years.
There are major changes planned for later in 2003. Designs are still in focus groups. Burger King typically will develop two or three programs and take them all out into the field for review. The road show for the apparel involves a lot of touching, feeling and surveying. Based on the survey tallies, field responses, upper managements opinion, and what Cvengros and her staff recommend, this ad-hoc committee makes a determination on which program to move forward with.
If Cvengros has her way, Burger King will in the future be phasing in one or two garments at a time. Ideally, I would change the program in stages, a garment or two every year to 18 months, instead of changing the whole thing every three years. That way, the program will always be evolving, instead of static for 36 months at a time. Although, we never officially decided our programs would last exactly three years, it has by chance happened that way during my tenure.
Cvengros desires continuous evolution to help maintain freshness. She says there is considerable expense in rolling out a new program or even introducing a single new item. There is a large challenge to be met in making her idea a reality. Perhaps the biggest hurdle will be how to make ongoing changes appear like they are integrated into the current restaurant apparel program.
There are currently eight types of crew shirtsall of different colors and styles. On the managers side of the current program, there are five shirts. Other significant components include sweaters, vests, neckwear, insignia and headwear. We are not looking at including more pieces in the new program than we currently have. The managers program may have an extra shirt option and get a little brighter as well, a little more professional. You will see long-sleeve shirts come into the program, for example. We are anticipating some fun embellishments to headwear in the new program as well.
This last program did achieve some primary goals. It was brighter, more retail in style, and the colors were more reflective of the Burger King brand. We are going to take it further this year, with more colors, such as royal blues, reds, golds and balanced, as always, by black. We are going to brighten the program. However, it is still going to have to function in our environment, so we cant go too far out there.
To bring these new items into the system, Burger King Corporation does wear test, although only when there is a change that requires such action. If an item was a knit program and the replacement only changes in color or style, remaining essentially a knit program, there are no wear tests. However, if there is a special new trim or collar added, then wear tests are integrated into the design process. Time is the biggest factorweighing the balance between cautiousness and the need to deliver.
All the products in the Burger King uniform program are wash and wear, which has presented no problem. The spec does include that fabrics are treated with Teflon.
How often does an employee get issued or need a new uniform?
That is the $100,000 question, laughs Cvengros. I have been looking for that answer for a long time. It depends really on the franchisees business practice. Some issue new items quarterly, others every six months. There is no set standard.
To even attempt to write a standard, Burger King Corporation must first identify some sort of benchmark. While all the garments are designed to last an average of 50 washings, the calendar life of a garment depends on many other factors. Whether the employee is full or part time, how often the individual worker washes the uniform and what crew functions the employee typically performs on the job are all conditions.
Whether a new employee should get two, three or four uniforms when first hired is a complex question as well. Will the employee stick around?
This is a big issue in the Burger King system and frankly for the industry as a whole. Some franchisees may provide one uniform to new hires, while others issue employees three. For people to look better, we realistically can not just issue one uniform, especially if they are working full time.
A reality influencing decisions in this area is many (if not most) employees in crew positions do not have washing machines in their home. If issued only one uniform, they are going to wear it and likely not wash it as often as they should because they only have one. However, because uniform costs are the burden of the franchisee owner, profit margins are balanced in this complex debate.
The Burger King system is more than 92% franchisee owned, and managing inventory for their restaurants is part of the skills required as an operator. Burger King Corporation tries to guide franchise owners, but there are no set quantities they must maintain.
On a summary note, Cvengros calls for fresh approach overall.
In the industry (quickserve restaurants), I have not seen a lot of innovation. I am seeing the same materials, and the same colors. Every program is just a polo shirt and a pair of pants. This could just be the industry at largepeople are used to wearing polo shirts and thats all they want. Typically, our industry wears clothing that is dark so it doesnt show stains. At Burger King Corporation, we are trying to brighten up the uniform. We are trying to add more retail elements to it, but still be cognizant that we have staining issues on the clothing.
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