What was the name of the McDonald’s restaurant design system introduced in 1948 to speed up service?

The Speedee Service System was the McDonald’s restaurant design system introduced in 1948 to speed up service.

Richard and Maurice McDonald reorganized their San Bernardino, California, restaurant around a limited menu, standardized preparation, and a self-service format. The goal was to produce food more quickly and consistently than a traditional drive-in restaurant, where carhops and a broad menu could slow operations.

The system used specialized stations and repeatable procedures, helping workers prepare hamburgers, fries, and drinks in a coordinated sequence. This emphasis on consistency became one of the foundations of McDonald’s later franchise model.

The name also explains the early mascot Speedee, whose image reinforced the promise of fast service. The system predates Ray Kroc’s national expansion of McDonald’s, although Kroc later helped spread the operating model across the United States and beyond.