Non-franchised restaurants can be categorised as unbranded outlets with catering being either
their primary or secondary activity (Eastham et al. 2001:231). Just as franchised restaurants, they
require regular stock replenishments. From the data collected, via mail-and-electronic surveys
and personal interviews, for non-franchised restaurants to have a competitive advantage over
franchised restaurants, additional operational effort is required. Non-franchised restaurants’
current practice is to utilise several suppliers. These suppliers deliver on different days in the
week and at different times during the day. This practice results in setbacks: the first is that the
restaurants are faced with frequent interruptions. For example, a restaurant places an order to
replenish its stock. This restaurant may, based on their supplier-consumer relationship, be able
to anticipate the delivery day. However, the time at which the ordered stock will be delivered
is associated with huge variances and is more difficult to estimate; furthermore, since nonfranchised
restaurants have numerous suppliers, this situation is aggravated. As a consequence
the restaurants may experience unnecessary delays and time lost whilst awaiting deliveries. This
is not only unwanted and frustrating, but may result in the loss of potential customers. Another
setback may be the generation of irregular and unnecessary traffic flow. Lastly, from the data
collected it became evident that no suppliers make use of the
same logistic organisation(s) or delivery trucks, even though
they may share the same restaurant(s) as customers. The
current practice followed is clearly not optimal.