麦当劳以高科技尝试新式服务

　　麦当劳（McDonald's Corp）已取消热爱快餐者和他们渴望的食品间的中间人，取而代之的是以高科技接触屏幕方式直接让食客向厨房下自己喜爱食品订单。这样缩短客户排队，让他们能直接控制自己的食谱。 　　麦当劳餐厅布局因此也发生了变化。装备电脑的小售餐亭取代了原来食客排队的订餐点。每一个售餐亭允许一位食客使用印有各种食品，带有英文和西班牙文及语音提示图片的接触屏幕直接向厨房下订单。此外，该方式还能让食客下非标准食品订单。

　　麦当劳在承认服务出现问题后决意要以改正服务方式提高服务质量。一些人相信采用这项科技将使快餐业走上类似于银行和机场检查服务的服务体系。

　　McDonald's Corp. has eliminated the middleman standing between fast-food lovers and their burgers, with an advanced test of technology that promises to shorten lines and give consumers more control over ordering.

　　Outside Chicago in St. Charles, Ill., longtime McDonald's franchisee John Lardas has reconfigured his restaurant, replacing three ordering stations manned by employees at the front counter with one traditional station and four stand-alone computers, or kiosks.

　　"You see no lines because people are spreading themselves out," said Lardas, who estimates that 70% of customers now opt to use the technology.

　　McDonald's, which recently admitted its service problems and vowed to fix them, is ironing the kinks out of technology that some believe will transform fast food the way similar systems have revolutionized bank transactions and airport check-ins.

　　Each kiosk allows a customer to place an order directly with the kitchen, using a touch screen with pictures of food, English or Spanish text and verbal prompts.

　　Have a Big Mac the regular way with special sauce; customize it without cheese or pickles.

　　"Order accuracy is a common complaint in the fast-food industry — people getting the wrong order or with something missing," said Robert Sandelman, an industry consultant in Orange County. The issue remains a top consumer concern in his firm's yearly industry survey, along with food taste and restaurant cleanliness.

　　That's partly because staffing restaurants with well-trained employees willing to work for low wages remains an increasing challenge for fast-food operators, which run on tight margins and have seen the price of commodities like beef move steadily higher.

　　Once perfected, the technology probably will lead to shorter wait times, labor cost savings and higher average purchases, analysts said.

　　"It's about time and lines," said Harry Balzer, vice president with food market research firm NPD Group Inc. "We are looking for the easiest way to feed ourselves."

　　Five McDonald's restaurants in the Denver area are operating self-ordering kiosks. An earlier phase of the test included stores in Raleigh, N.C. McDonald's is testing similar systems overseas in France, Australia and Japan.

　　"The customer perception is that it's a better experience," said Christa Small, the McDonald's director heading the test. "It's the perception that you have control over the process."

　　Small declined to discuss when the Oak Brook, Ill., company would make a decision about implementing the kiosks on a permanent basis, or how much the devices cost.

　　But the competition is heating up. Privately held Burger King Corp., the largest hamburger-making rival to McDonald's, also is testing kiosks in a handful of stores. A representative for the Miami company declined to provide additional details.

　　Having a machine consistently remember to ask whether you want French fries with your sandwich, as the McDonald's kiosks do, can boost the value of a transaction by 10% to 20%, said Kate Delhagen, a Forrester Research analyst who has studied kiosk technology.

　　She estimates that installing such stations in a typical restaurant would cost $10,000 to $20,000 for the hardware, with software, training and maintenance an additional expense.

　　Within a few years, benefits will outweigh those costs, Delhagen said. For instance, before an order is sent to the kitchen at the McDonald's in St. Charles, the computer verifies that it's correct, providing a rolling total, so virtually nothing is lost in translation. Inserting a bill or credit card into the machine completes the process, and in about a minute a server appears with food and change.