"In 2005, we will produce more than five million milkshakes. Because we focus on serving the highest quality food and beverages, it's extremely important our milkshakes are delivered as soon as they're made," says Mike Woods, senior vice president at Red Robin. "Before ACFC, we were delivering milkshakes on-time only 36 percent of the time in one particular region. This meant our guests weren't receiving milkshakes as soon as they were made and, potentially, received partially melted milkshakes when they were delivered. After ACFC, on-time delivery of milkshakes jumped to 77 percent. The project was a huge success, with on-time delivery more than doubling!"

Red Robin tackled this program for three reasons: It was good for their team members because it provided them with incremental skills and knowledge; it was good for their guests because it enabled Red Robin to elevate their ability to address "critical to quality" details identified by their guests; and it was good for the entire company because it provided a common language among the various departments involved in the continuous improvement process.

After reviewing the data and comments, the ACFC team discovered the First Available Server Transport (FAST) program Red Robin uses in the kitchen was not being used at the bar, which is where milkshakes are made.

"Once we discovered we weren't using FAST at the bar, we asked our team members to explain why," says Woods. "There were some coordination issues in how drinks, especially milkshakes, were delivered, so we redesigned a section of the bar."

A minor redesign of the restaurant's bars and the implementation of FAST allows servers to deliver milkshakes immediately to guests even if another team member services their table.

Drawing on a team of people, following a set process, and using a common language, Red Robin worked both cross-functionally and as individual departments with GE Commercial Finance, Franchise Finance to find an inexpensive solution to their milkshake challenge, and accelerate their ability to solve future problems.

Julie Huston, ACFC leader for GE Commercial Finance, Franchise Finance and the ACFC team are thrilled about the results, but give most of the credit to the Red Robin team and a rare quality they possess.

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