# McDonald's Pilots Real-Time Automation for Ice Cream Product Availability

DevFeed: [McDonald's Pilots Real-Time Automation for Ice Cream Product Availability](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/from-ideation-to-automation-the-scoop-on-outages-23978.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://medium.com/mcdonalds-technical-blog/from-ideation-to-automation-the-scoop-on-outages-1ad0eab5cee1?source=rss----3bac42476d27---4>)

Author: Global Technology

Published: 2026-03-12T16:13:47Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [McDonald's Technical Blog - Medium](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/mcdonald-s-technical-blog-medium.md>)

Topics: [Automation](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/automation.md>), [Availability](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/availability.md>), [Internet of things](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/iot.md>), [ordering](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ordering.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>)

Tags: [automation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/automation.md>), [availability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/availability.md>), [customer-experience](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/customer-experience.md>), [digital-transformation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/digital-transformation.md>), [efficiency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/efficiency.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [internet-of-things](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/internet-of-things.md>), [iot](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/iot.md>), [mobile](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mobile.md>), [ordering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ordering.md>), [outages](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/outages.md>), [technology](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/technology.md>)

## AI overview

McDonald's piloted a real-time automation pipeline that connects ice cream machines to Sesame POS. At a Global Tech pilot restaurant, the system automatically removes products during machine downtime and re-enables them when the machine becomes operational, updating kiosks, mobile apps, and POS systems. The solution has not yet been rolled out broadly.

## Source excerpt

A process that once required a multi-click manual process is now fully automated in real time, with a Global Tech pilot restaurant testing the solution to boost efficiency and enhance the customer experience. by: Chloe Tominac, Manager, Engineering Tech Lead & Lauren Adamonis, Manager, Engineering Tech Lead Quick Bytes: Crew members had to manually mark ice cream items unavailable through a multi-click process, and later use the same process to restore items, which often led to missed updates and customer frustration A real-time automation pipeline was piloted to connect the ice cream machine to Sesame POS, instantly updating product availability The solution launched in McDonald's Global Tech pilot restaurant, improving restaurant efficiency and ensuring customers see accurate menus across all ordering channels In restaurant operations, every second counts -- especially when equipment goes offline. That's why McDonald's tech teams set out to automate the ice cream product outage process, transforming a manual workflow into a seamless, real-time system as part of our ongoing digital transformation. To explore how this could work in a live environment, we put the solution to the test in one of our Global Tech pilot restaurants. This pilot is helping us learn how real-time equipment data can improve restaurant efficiency and customer experience. While it's not yet rolled out broadly, the insights from this test are shaping how we think about scaling automation across restaurant operations. Previously, a multi-click process was required to take ice cream items off the menu during machine downtime. Without automatic recovery, items often remained unavailable even after the machine was back online until a crew member restored them, resulting in customers hearing that the ice cream machine was "broken." Automation now ensures menu items are immediately re-enabled as soon as the machine is operational. Now, thanks to a collaboration between the Internet of Things (IoT) team