I’ve been in the fast food business a long time; long enough to remember when QSRs operated with manual drive-thru intercom systems rather than today’s sophisticated wireless headsets...

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If your Fast Track drive-thru timer system is starting to show more than the usual wear and tear, it may be time to fix or replace it. CE Repairs has got you covered with fully warranteed repair services and a great selection of replacement parts and accessories.

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It’s been a rough year in terms of cash flow for my three QSR restaurants. In particular, a lot of my drive-thru equipment in each store reached the end of its serviceable life and needed replacing. I had just invested in major upgrades to my kitchen equipment at the beginning of the year,and didn’t have the cash reserves to purchase new headsets or timers for my drive-thrus.

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If you need timer repairs, send it to CE today and we’ll have it back to you running smoothly and efficiently in almost no time at all. You'll get the confidence of knowing your valuable equipmen is in the hands of experts, and that you will get it back fast!

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If you own and operate a quick-service restaurant and drive-thru, you want to make sure you provide excellent customer experience along with providing successful speed of service. You may or may not know that QSR customers are generally looking for these two things- great food and great service. Let CE be there to help you provide your customers with great service by helping maintain your drive-thru equipment repairs.

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If you’ve got one or more broken drive-thru headsets that have been sitting around for a while, CE is offering a new discount that could save you money and put those headsets back into action.

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As a leader in drive-thru equipment repair, CE has more than 40 years of helping QSRs fix their broken equipment. As a result, we can offer comprehensive equipment maintenance plans (EMAs) that save you time and money. Which is why the CE Drive-Thru Protection Plan is recognized as one of the best EMAs in the industry.

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As QSR owner of several stores in our area, I’ve been using CE to handle my headset repairs for several years now. They always do good work at a reasonable price, which is why I stick with them. But until recently I really didn’t know much about what else they do.

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When it comes to drive-thru equipment, headset and timer systems get most of the attention. But the equipment outside your kitchen is just as important as those on the inside – especially your vehicle detector.

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Do you know how long it takes to process an average drive-thru order from start to finish? How about peak hours when your drive-thru is experiencing the most traffic? Do you know what causes bottlenecks at peak hours? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, how can you expect to have great drive-thru efficiency?

Drive-thru timers are a necessity for efficiency. In depth reporting provides insight on trends and pinpoints problem areas so managers can tweak schedules or shift employees around to different positions to compensate for bottlenecks. Drive-thru timers aren’t only great for reporting, most of them have an in-store dashboard display that provides employees with a real-time picture of what is happening in their drive-thru. Here are some features you should look for in a great drive-thru timer.

Intuitive Color Display—Most timers can be configured to your stores’ specific goals. The best timers have an intuitive color display that changes from green to yellow and red when your goal times have been exceeded.

Real-Time Comparisons—With the ability to compare current cars to previous car averages in a given time period, your employees can estimate about how long an order should take to execute and work to beat that time.

Multiple Check-Points—By timing individual events, managers can tell where processes are backed up and can quickly rearrange staff to fill in trouble areas. If a car has been sitting at the pick-up window for a long period of time it’s a good indication that the kitchen is behind on the order. Managers can task an idle counter employee to help in the kitchen until the congestion clears. If there’s a long pause at the menu, this could indicate an indecisive customer or a preoccupied employee. If this is the case, put someone with more experience in charge of drive-thru orders until the bottleneck is cleared.

Optional Alerts—Some managers prefer audible alerts to sound when employees exceed their goal. This puts a little more haste into the process of getting orders out as quickly as possible. Other managers and employees prefer color-changing displays or blinking lights to notify them when an order time has been exceeded. Great drive-thru timers will allow the incorporation of both of these options.

Reporting—In-store and Cloud-based reporting are also important in a drive-thru timer. The best timers will provide both so managers and owners can view real-time data in the store or on the go.