Customer application 21 January 2021
All the Technology Controlled from One Platform

McDonald’s – who isn’t familiar with their hamburgers, which taste just as delicious all over the world? But did you also know that in order to achieve the quality, production security and sustainability that McDonald’s strives for, they put a lot of effort into automation? Everything from electricity, to HVAC, to water management can be controlled from one touch screen and monitored via a unique cloud application, thanks to Luc De Jonge nv and ATS nv. What do you think about this cooperation? We’re loving it!

Rapid Construction

During the 1990s, McDonald’s experienced enormous growth. Belgians were able to enjoy their delicious grilled hamburgers and crispy fries. To make them more accessible, no less than 45 restaurants were opened in the 1990s. The site coordinator responsible for the electricity work sought and found a reliable partner in Luc De Jonge nv in Ninove, Belgium, to achieve an successful expansion. Manager Luc De Jonge: “In essence, this was not overly complex work. We’re talking about the early nineties – data cabling didn’t even exist back then. The challenge in the construction of a new McDonald’s was at that time, and still is, the timing. That is the real challenge. Nobody builds as fast as they do, and planning and timing are crucial.“ This is also confirmed by Jan Snauwaert, Equipment & Technical Service Manager for McDonald’s in Belgium. “On average, you have ten to twelve weeks between the start of construction and the opening of the new branch. So all the contractors involved have to work together like a well-oiled machine. That’s why, in all projects, partnerships are more important to us than trying to play suppliers off against one another. We have long-term objectives and look forwards.

Reducing Power Consumption

Today McDonald’s Belgium has 88 locations that serve 69,000 meals in total a day. The restaurant chain continues to work on its market penetration, and this year, despite the COVID crisis, opened nine new branches. In each construction project, the company strives to meet three criteria: Quality, production security and energy management. “As early as 2000, we made energy efficiency our pet project – because we recognized how important the fight against climate change is, and also because the energy costs had risen sharply. That meant we had to completely rethink how we dealt with electricity. It used to be, you switched on the equipment and were ready to go. But that entailed significant peaks at start up, which cost a lot of money. However, the reason for that was of course that, at that time, each branch would still conclude its own energy contract with the energy provider. As the first step, we switched to a German system that was able to limit the power consumption. As soon as we exceeded a limiting value, the system switched off less important equipment. That’s better for energy consumption, but not great for comfort, which of course was not our intention.

Automation Ensures Efficiency

The need to ensure comfort at all times accelerated the drive to advance automation. “It’s all about reducing the burden on our franchisees. While the restaurants and the technology used are becoming more and more complex, we just want to make things easier for them. That’s why we encouraged the development towards central control and management. It’s far more efficient if all the technology used is implemented in a uniform manner,“ Snauwaert explains. Luc De Jonge’s team automated the start-up process. This system allows everything in McDonald’s restaurants to start up automatically in a cascade. “In this way, all the equipment starts up gently in phases, depending on the operation, the planning and the on-site business,” explains De Jonge. A new branch was opened in Waterloo. Says Snauwaert: “Working in a monitored environment reduced the peak power from 160 kW to a maximum of 120 kW.

It’s difficult to compare the old and new situations: The kitchens have become larger, and menus have become more extensive. Innovations such as LED lighting and free cooling have also been introduced ... But this innovation has enabled us to make an efficiency leap from 20 % to 30 %. “Of course, McDonald’s kept an emergency switch in case something goes wrong. “We always have our so-called ’uh-oh’ switch close at hand,” explains Snauwaert with a wink. “If the PLC fails, the restaurant can revert to the old manual method and continue to operate. It’s like a time jump, which guarantees we can always keep working, and which gives the service technicians the time to analyze and fix the problem. That also lets us avoid the most expense service calls, such as evenings and weekends.”

One Touchscreen to Monitor All the Technology

The principle from the turn of the century is still basically the same. Every year, the discussion centered on how to optimize it further based on demand. Three years ago, however, a crossroads was reached. The PLC technology from that period was in need of replacement. At that time, the ATS Automation team became a McDonald’s partner. Application Engineer John Troch explains: “By choosing WAGO, we were able to offer McDonald’s additional integration options. Because most of the software had to written from scratch, this was the perfect time to discuss with the customer: What does the company really need today, and where does it want to go?“ For McDonald’s, it was important to continue to pursue sustainability measures. The WAGO PLC controls the HVAC installation, the lighting, the kitchen appliances etc. Water treatment is now also integrated into the system that monitors the quality of the water, the recovery of rainwater and the operation of the system. “By opting for the Modbus® protocol, we were able to make all the systems talk to each other. We bundled that all together and created a visualization for it on a touchscreen in every branch, which allows intuitive monitoring of all the technology. The touchscreens are also 100 % wipeable and hygienic. “

Superior, but No More Expensive

Behind the scenes, a cloud application (ATS Smart Tool) was set up for McDonald’s technical team. Three restaurants have already had their baptism of fire on this platform: Ath, Beerse and Beringen. “The Smart Tool platform is an in-house development of ATS for remote alarm and monitoring. All the data – about 120 to 150 parameters per branch – is monitored, including error codes. That way, you can determine exactly what the problem is and what needs to be done to solve it on site,“ explains Troch. For Snauwaert, this new approach provides nothing but benefits. “In comparison with other countries, the integration of the technology is very far-reaching. As a result, we can now identify future problems at an early stage, without even having to be on site ourselves. What’s more, ATS and Luc De Jonge managed this very successfully without it costing us more at the end. With everything now running on one platform, we’ve gained so much in terms of efficiency and options. They know what’s important to us and offer options for improvement of their own accord, but always with an eye to our budget,“ concludes Snauwaert.

Implementation:

Luc De Jonge nv (Logo: Luc De Jonge)

ATS nv (Logo: ATS nv)

Technology:

Electrical installation
Automation and visualization
Reporting via ATS Smart Tool

An Overview of Compatible Products

Controllers

Optimum performance and availability for machines and equipment: Thanks to their ultra-high performance, low power consumption, numerous interfaces, space-saving design and high level of reliability, WAGO’s user-friendly programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are cost-effective automation solutions for numerous applications.

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