When Your LTO Hinges on a New Food Equipment Design…

1. “Is Rapid Prototyping All You Got?”

Let’s be clear. Rapid prototyping and other advanced engineering-development capabilities are a worthy litmus test for your manufacturing partner—especially in the “hurry-up-and-wait” scenarios so common among LTO projects.

But, in a meet-the-deadline partnership, you ought to screen manufacturers for more than just their technical capabilities.

Do they have experience, specifically, in the types of foods and applications like those of your current LTO project?

The differences between proofing dough, searing beef and holding chilled sauces in open display—even in terms of, say, a nuance in temperature or the energy source to achieve it—are not discoveries you want your manufacturer to be making for the first time on your project.

Not when corporate is asking for a status update every day.

The same can be said for the equipment design-development process itself.

Generally speaking, manufacturers are wired to take on new challenges. Enthusiasm for venturing into the realm of custom-design food equipment in a chain-wide LTO shouldn’t be mistaken for experience.

Do they have a structured process and is it something you can see and discuss up front?

Furthermore, does that process have clear milestones when you will be able to review the progress and sign next-phase authorization?

Finally, how collaborative, flexible and accessible is the manufacturer? Are they able and willing to remain closely involved throughout the LTO project, not just at the prototype level, but all the way through initial and market testing?

Some of the most successful ideas, measured by their impact on LTO profitability or brand-building differentiation, as much as equipment performance, don’t emerge until then.

2. Performance Requirements. Know Them.

When an LTO project veers off the fast track, a nebulous food-equipment concept is often among the usual suspects.

Somewhere between when the menu item becomes tangible (the recipe is ready to test, the flavor is certifiably craveable, the idea fits the brand, the presentation is “Instagrammable,” etc.) and when your chain’s marketing wheels start turning—which, happens earlier than ever now—the practical, repeatable kitchen objectives of your new equipment device should be defined.

Have your performance specs all but cast in stone, to get the prototype ball rolling quickly and to streamline its evaluation phases later on.

But, also, keep an open mind.

To meet those specs, the equipment design options that come back to you from the qualified manufacturer might not be what you expected. Trust your design team.

3. Count Your Cooks

It’s no coincidence that the cliché for projects slowed by democracy has its roots in the kitchen.

If speed-to-market is your top priority, your internal equipment-development project team and approval process should be clearly defined as well.

Keep it as small as possible, with a uniform understanding of the objectives and urgency.

For rapid approvals, establish the proper hierarchy and flow, with direct lines of communication, including a contingency plan for potential role-player changes. We all know about turnover in the foodservice business.

4. Check the Check. Is It Really Blank?

Let’s face it. Even when meeting the LTO launch deadline is so important that “cost is no object,” cost is still an object. At some point.

As early in the equipment-development process as possible, establish some parameters for the sake of speed.

For example, when the performance requirements come into form during checkpoint 2, and subsequent equipment costs start to rise above initial estimates, knowing your cost threshold, and whether or not you’ll have to make performance trade-offs, is a serious time-saving plus.

Also, be aware that prototypes and tooling are often much more expensive than the final product, and they involve up-front costs.

To avoid what can become a frustrating delay, request pre-authorization to pay for those prototypes.