Smarter schedules. Stronger teams. Better Results.

When Robert Ross, then Chief Operations Officer at McDonald’s Spain, looked at the complexity of manual scheduling, he captured a universal challenge shared by every service business, from restaurants to retail stores:

“We needed to align our labor resources with customer demands.”

That challenge: balancing efficiency, compliance, and employee satisfaction. It is what gave birth to Orquest Smart Planning, intelligent workforce management solution that’s now powering operations for McDonald’s, Burger King, H&M, Kiabi, Dior, and many others around the world.

From fast-food counters to fashion flagships, the principle is the same: put the right person in the right place at the right time.

Turning Workforce Challenges into Opportunities

“We selected Orquest Smart Planning because of its powerful forecasting and scheduling capabilities,” says Gema Rebollo, an IT Manager. “It places the right person in the right place at the right time.”

Through AI-driven forecasting, Orquest analyzes sales data, foot traffic, and productivity metrics to predict staffing needs with precision. The solution then builds optimized, fully compliant schedules that match demand, freeing managers from manual work while improving customer experience and employee satisfaction.

The results are immediate and measurable: less time spent creating schedules, shorter customer wait times, and a drop in labor costs without affecting service quality.

“Orquest Smart Planning has not only improved forecasting and staff deployment, but also significantly accelerated processes and transformed the user experience,” says Carla Turturro, HR leader at Arcos Dorados, the biggest McDonald’s franchisee (18 countries) in the world.

That same intelligence is now transforming retail operations worldwide.

Orquest Smart Planning: Aligning Efficiency with Employee Well-Being

Fashion brands like Kiabi, H&M, and Dior face the same complexity as restaurants: unpredictable traffic, seasonal peaks, and multiple channels like click-and-collect and in-store sales. For them, Orquest Smart Planning has become a vital tool to forecast customer flow, structure teams, and keep physical stores productive and compliant every hour of the day.

“Orquest helps us to foresee in a more efficient way when our customers will come so that their experience with Kiabi improves,” explains Darío Acuña, Sales Director at Kiabi Spain.

That predictive precision translates directly into better sales and service performance. At Douglas, it generated a tangible financial lift:

“With Orquest Smart Planning we have increased sales by 6.6%, improving the conversion rate by 3.7 points,” says Patrick Chiron, Retail Intelligence Director.

In both retail and QSR, Orquest’s greatest strength lies in balance between efficiency and empathy. It optimizes shifts, yes, but it also creates fairer, more predictable schedules that build engagement and retention. Employees get clarity and control. Managers get time back. Customers get better service.

That focus on people has earned industry-wide recognition. When Zara received the XXI Expansión Award for Innovation in Human Resources, the jury highlighted the Smart Planning project:

“Scheduling involves considering many factors, such as contract hours and legal constraints. Smart Planning simplifies this complex task.”

For brands like Burger King, that simplicity scales. In 2023, Restaurant Brands Europe (the group operating Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons in Southern Europe) rolled out Orquest in more than 1,000 restaurants for nearly 29,000 employees.

“Scheduling and rescheduling with Orquest is now very easy,” says a Burger King Regional Manager.

Restaurant managers now build compliant, optimized schedules in under an hour, a big shift in operational speed and quality.

Meanwhile, luxury retailers like Dior trust Orquest to uphold service standards across international markets.

“Distributing hours well means putting the right people in the right place,” emphasizes Laurent Milchior, CEO of Etam Group, who celebrated Orquest’s innovation when the brand was recognized as Innovative Supplier of the Year at La Nuit Du Commerce Connecté 2023.

Whether it’s a high-volume restaurant or a high-end boutique, Orquest delivers measurable results at scale. Its AI models adapt to each business’s rhythm, local regulations, and operational goals, a flexibility that now supports global brands in over 90 countries.

Beyond operational excellence, Orquest enhances the human experience of work. By respecting personal preferences, contract conditions, and rest times, it promotes fairness and predictability. Employees get more balanced shifts and better visibility through the Orquest App, which allows them to view schedules, manage requests, and receive updates instantly.

“Now employees can organize themselves better,” says Ana Gabriela Gómez, Store Manager at Glovo.

That same app has earned 4.6 stars from more than 7,000 reviews, a testament to its ease of use and the real value it brings to daily work.

Smarter Scheduling for a Stronger Retail Future

And when operations span continents, compliance becomes another major win. As Ricardo Rodríguez, Senior Business Analyst at Glovo, explains:

“Orquest analyzes past orders, even on holidays, to adjust demand forecasting. I can specify that a driver shouldn’t work before 10:00 AM, and it ensures compliance when assigning shifts.”

This combination of intelligence, compliance, and human insight is what sets Orquest apart. It’s not just an algorithm generating shifts; it’s a strategic partner improving performance across every layer of the business: forecasting, planning, execution, and engagement.

Orquest Smart Planning “stands out for simplifying schedule management, with automation, personalization, and improving the employee experience,” noted the XXI Expansión Award jury.

From McDonald’s kitchens to Dior’s shop floors, Orquest has proven that smarter scheduling drives real business outcomes: faster operations, higher productivity, happier employees, and more satisfied customers.