The company is ending a two-year test after piloting the technology in more than 100 restaurants with plans to remove the system from all locations by the end of July, meaning customers will once again place their orders with a human instead of a computer.
As part of this decision, McDonald's will end its Automated Order Taking (AOT) partnership with IBM, although McDonald's may be considering other potential partners to collaborate with on future AOT efforts.
“While we have been successful to date, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly,” Mason Smoot, McDonald's USA's chief restaurant officer, said in an email to franchisees obtained by the trade publication. ( Smoot added that the company will explore other options and “make an informed decision about the future of a voice ordering solution by the end of the year,” saying that “IBM has given us confidence that a drive-thru voice ordering solution will be part of the future of our restaurants.”
McDonald's Restaurant Business The goal of the test was to determine whether AOT could speed up service and streamline operations: by automating drive-thru ordering, the company hopes to eliminate the need for staff to take orders, reducing the number of employees needed to run the restaurant or redeploy resources to other areas of the business.
IBM will continue to supply other McDonald's systems and is in talks with other fast-food chains about using its AOT technology. Chains including Hardee's, Carl's Jr., Krystal, Wendy's, Dunkin' and Taco John's are already testing or using the technology in their drive-thru locations.
