2020-03-01_Fast_Company

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FOR CAFFEINATING

THE DATA-DRIVEN

CHAIN RESTAURANT

In just two and a half years since

its launch, Luckin Coffee has

become the largest coffee chain

in China, surpassing Starbucks,

which took more than two

decades to achieve that status.

Data informs virtually every deci-

sion Luckin makes, from store

placement to pricing to supply

forecasting. When Luckin enters

a new market (it’s currently in 53

Chinese cities), it opens 5 to 10

“relax” stores—casual, sit-down

coffee shops—and centralized

kitchens from which it serves

delivery orders. It entices

people to download the Luckin

app—users can only pay digitally—

with a free cup of coffee. The

company then decides where to

open pickup kiosks based on

54 FASTCOMPANY.COM Bra

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After receiving FDA

approval for the Ebola

vaccine Ervebo in 2019,

Merck is poised to eradi-

cate the deadly virus.

The process began six

years ago, when Merck

licensed the treatment

from New Link Genetics

and set to work devel-

oping it and “showing

that it was generally safe

and effective,” says Rog-

er Perlmutter, president

of Merck Research Lab-

oratories. Merck figured

out how to scale manu-

facturing of the inocula-

tion, which consists of a

genetically engineered

live virus that triggers an

immune response, and

delivered more than

250,000 doses to the

Democratic Republic of

Congo (site of the most

recent outbreak). It

reduced mortality by at

least 88% among peo-

ple exposed to the virus.

FOR VACCINATING

AGAINST EBOLA