The McDonald brothers actually designed the assembly line kitchen-twice as large as their original – by drawing an exact chalk diagram on their tennis court. They were able to place the equipment most efficiently after studying their crewmembers as they walked through their food preparation steps. Occasional rain bursts washed out the chalk, prompting them to redraw and refine their design. But the brothers – successful beyond their dreams in San Bernardino – were barely tapping the franchising potential of the business concept they had pioneered. For as little as a thousand dollars, franchisees would receive the McDonald’s name, a basic description of their Speedy Service System, and the services of Art Bender, their original counterman at the new restaurant, for a week or two to get them started. But then, in 1954, a milkshake machine salesman named Ray Kroc saw the McDonald’s operation first-hand. The fast food industry was about to take off. |
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