Checkers maximizes footprint for franchise efficiency

You don’t need to become a feng shui freak or interior design guru in order to promote business success, but if you’re not focused on maximizing your site footprint, you’re missing out on a whole host of benefits.

Just ask Checkers. The burger chain’s new “Restaurant 3.0” design was recently highlighted by Restaurant Development + Design Magazine. The new model is intended to maximize every square inch of space while encouraging greater efficiency.

One major change for the company was a switch from double drive-thru lines to a single line.

“Historically, we had two assembly lines – one for fulfilling orders on the ‘driver’s side’ and one on the ‘passenger’s side,’” Jennifer Durham, vice president for franchise development at Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc., told the magazine.

However, following a detailed study of how employees perform their work, the brand realized specific changes could greatly reduce the time it takes to accomplish certain tasks.

Meanwhile, the company has incorporated new technologies to improve efficiency further, including video monitors that display customer orders to cooks.

“Technology helps us accelerate the orders,” Durham said. “We’ve made one line move faster than two.”