Progress in “right to repair”

By Leisa Boley Hellwarth 

Did you ever pull into McDonald’s with a hankering for a soft serve cone only to be told by the employee taking orders that the ice cream machine was not working? This happens often enough that there is actually an independent website, Mcbroken.com, that tracks the franchises where the ice cream machines are awaiting repair.

The saga of the McDonald’s ice cream machines all began in 1956 when Ray Kroc, who would soon become the founding owner-operator of the McDonald’s franchise business, made a handshake agreement with the Taylor Company to supply milkshake machines for the fast food chain as its exclusive supplier. The two companies have continued to cooperate to the present day.

The Taylor Company, owned by Middleby Corporation, typically provides a Taylor C602 to the requesting McDonald’s franchise. Currently, 13,000 of the 40,000 McDonald’s locations have that model. It is notorious for reliability issues.… Continue reading