Nando’s has successfully implemented ‘Continuous Flow’, a new method that reduces complexity in the kitchen, leading to smoother and more efficient prep and co-ordination processes. Continuous Flow has decreased prep time for orders in 85% of restaurants who are using it, and has improved both customer and employee satisfaction.
As a growing business, Nando’s recruits and trains thousands of people each year. A new workforce is naturally inexperienced and not used to the food preparation requirements, or the needs of the restaurant’s different channels – eat in, collect and delivery. Add into the mix peak hours, where there could be three or four people co-ordinating or serving food, and the likelihood of mistakes and confusion was high. New Grillers were also overwhelmed by the number of orders arriving at the same time. Nando’s decided it needed to find a new method to improve co-ordination, with the aim of reducing complexity, improving capacity at peak, and enhancing staff wellbeing.
Continuous Flow is a method that allows restaurants to move a single transaction through every step of the process, instead of grouping customer orders into batches. It’s called ‘Continuous Flow’ as the method keeps orders moving through production seamlessly.
Co-ordination works in zones and people use screens to prepare orders one-by-one instead of in big batches. Each zone is organised in a clear and accessible way, where staff know exactly where each item is - allowing both Grillers and servers to move freely and efficiently without bumping into one another. This method slows down the pace of prep time to focus on areas with the largest bottlenecks, and this keeps things moving in an ordered way and eventually leads to a quicker and more efficient process.
Nando’s currently has 250 restaurants operating in this way to improve co-ordination and to help prevent staff from being overwhelmed, especially during peak hours.
To land the changes successfully, Nando’s focussed on explaining why the changes were needed and what the benefits were. There were regular communications and support, especially for the first few weeks.
Within the first month, staff ended up getting used to the new method, and during 6 months of testing Nando’s found:
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End to end prep time for orders reduced in 85% of restaurants.
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The co-ordination hold time was reduced by 40% in all restaurants from day one!
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Nearly a third of restaurants reported improved customer satisfaction for all items from the back and front grills!
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Delivery accuracy levels improved.
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Staff were less overwhelmed and were happier in their roles overall – helping with retention.