Improving the delivery performance: a case study applying statistical approaches for brasilian fast food

Purpose - Brazilian demand for a faster way of food feeding is growing and delays in delivery time impair customer satisfaction. Although food delivery apps are popular, the work aims to find the root causes of delays at a popular pizzeria in the Brazilian State of São Paulo, highlighting that the pizza manufacturing processes are the same as in past years. Design/methodology/approach - An anonymous survey conducted with the customers showed the key points of improvement for pizzerias in the city where the pizzeria was located. Data was collected from the pizzeria in question, so its non-compliances could be identified and further investigated using statistical analysis. Findings - The results showed a strong correlation between delivery time and the hour of order. Deliveries were faster on Monday compared to the other days of the week, possibly due to a reduced number of orders on this day, but it doesn’t explain the fact that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, which also had low numbers of orders, had high delivery times. This research work intends also to show that the process of the coming order is standard by apps, but the pizza manufacturing process is not. It means the concept of service quality is not reached during a period. Originality/value - This work has shown that applying quality tools and statistical analysis can bring advantages even for small food service companies. Other establishments that suffer from similar problems could also use the strategies for solving the delays.