9 replies to this topic

[brcrumly]

Hi everyone,
I work with a vending company, and we have tried a couple pieces of software to help with our vending, one is called dynamic scheduling and the other is called a merchandiser. The Dynamic Scheduling let's us get a good estimate of what is in the machines at each location based on average days sales (ADS) and when we should send our driver there, resulting in more sales and less visits and we were able to know a work day off each driver. The merchandiser is to help us look at each machine and set the pars properly so we do not have a lot of spoilage.

But we seems to be having an issue with spoilage still, it could be a multitude of reasons, to include our sandwich machines. At times we double up on products then they spoil out, other times we just cant get things to pan out right it and too many line are sold out with little money in the machine. In my point of view, when we first started merchandising, our drivers were ok with it, then it got annoying, now they seem a little unsure due to so many changes.

I am not sure if it is an issue with the software (bugs maybe?) or how we are going about it. For example, we have one driver that services a place that gets very busy during the holiday season and the system show products selling more than they actually are so we up the pars so he doesn't have to go there daily, he comes back and says that they didnt need to go up and/or he doesnt fill the product up.

Anyone got any suggestions or want to share ideas on how they keep their spoilage down and their sales up?

Thanks,
Brian

[cvending]

There is softwarte/hardware available to give you remote access to your machine. This way you can determine your need to service or not. It will also give you a per selection report of sales so you can see what is actually selling and then determine par levels. What type machines you are vending will determine if they are DEX ready or not. If so I would say that is the easiest way to track sales. We use InOne Technologies Arrow Vision hardware/software. Runs us $6/month per machine to have machines report 4 times a day to us. For a few $$ more you can get real time reports. We just don't see the need.

[Ruskie]

$6.00 per month for the report, is there a monthly monitoring fee?

There is softwarte/hardware available to give you remote access to your machine. This way you can determine your need to service or not. It will also give you a per selection report of sales so you can see what is actually selling and then determine par levels. What type machines you are vending will determine if they are DEX ready or not. If so I would say that is the easiest way to track sales. We use InOne Technologies Arrow Vision hardware/software. Runs us $6/month per machine to have machines report 4 times a day to us. For a few $$ more you can get real time reports. We just don't see the need.

[cvending]

$6/machine per month is the monitoring fee. You can check it as often as you wish. You can also set it to e-mail you alerts(sold outs, power outage, coin mech/validator error). Your machine must be DEX capable and you will need a modem. We use InOne Technologies, but there are others as well.

[cvending]

Ruskie, I forgot to mention that if your machine is DEX ready, the modem cost is around $270. Should you need to upgrade your machine to DEX capable, there will be additional costs. www.inonetechnology.com

[Ruskie]

Is the $270 per modem per machine? How is the information sent to your receiving unit?

Ruskie, I forgot to mention that if your machine is DEX ready, the modem cost is around $270. Should you need to upgrade your machine to DEX capable, there will be additional costs. www.inonetechnology.com

[vend1ng]

Hi everyone,
I work with a vending company, and we have tried a couple pieces of software to help with our vending, one is called dynamic scheduling and the other is called a merchandiser. The Dynamic Scheduling let's us get a good estimate of what is in the machines at each location based on average days sales (ADS) and when we should send our driver there, resulting in more sales and less visits and we were able to know a work day off each driver. The merchandiser is to help us look at each machine and set the pars properly so we do not have a lot of spoilage.

But we seems to be having an issue with spoilage still, it could be a multitude of reasons, to include our sandwich machines. At times we double up on products then they spoil out, other times we just cant get things to pan out right it and too many line are sold out with little money in the machine. In my point of view, when we first started merchandising, our drivers were ok with it, then it got annoying, now they seem a little unsure due to so many changes.

I am not sure if it is an issue with the software (bugs maybe?) or how we are going about it. For example, we have one driver that services a place that gets very busy during the holiday season and the system show products selling more than they actually are so we up the pars so he doesn't have to go there daily, he comes back and says that they didnt need to go up and/or he doesnt fill the product up.

Anyone got any suggestions or want to share ideas on how they keep their spoilage down and their sales up?

Thanks,
Brian

Is this really a serious post? If it is inventory control isn't your problem. This sounds like a question for a shameless plug. If this is serious then you have serious problems. Spoilage is an issue but should never be a problem. Just my opinion not to insult anyone ..... I would fire the whole company and get out of vending.
Vend1ng

[brcrumly]

There is softwarte/hardware available to give you remote access to your machine. This way you can determine your need to service or not. It will also give you a per selection report of sales so you can see what is actually selling and then determine par levels. What type machines you are vending will determine if they are DEX ready or not. If so I would say that is the easiest way to track sales. We use InOne Technologies Arrow Vision hardware/software. Runs us $6/month per machine to have machines report 4 times a day to us. For a few $$ more you can get real time reports. We just don't see the need.

Ruskie: We do have the dexing and the telemetry devices that let you see whats in your machine and they help, but I am thinking it's more a software issue than anything and am trying to find a way around it and hopefully tell the software company so they can fix their bugs.

Vend1ng: It is a serious topic and though inventory changes from time to time, some due to seasonal places (farming areas, holiday places etc) some due to the economy and some other reasons. I am asking not as the owner, but as an employee to see if we can get it lower since were are building a store and saving for a new building, having everyone fired and getting out would be the worst thing to do due to the economy and hard to find jobs now, this post was not meant to/to be insulted or slandered by someone, only suggestions to help one another.

[cvending]

Yes, the $270 is per modem. The modem relays the data to your telemetry supplier. You then log into their site, pull up your list of machines, select machine and view data. Initially you do need to set up your account. You need to plan-a-gram your machines so it knows what is in each column. Also provides cash accountability. I will try to e-mail you a snapshot of the data we receive.


Product Level Details
Bin Adjustments




Bin Adjustments




Bin Product Vends Par On Hand Pending Picks 110 LSS Cheetos Jalapeno 1 10 * 0 112 Honey Twist BBQ Fritos 0 10 * 0 114 Munchies 1 10 * 0 116 HMO Pretzels 3 10 * 0 118 Combos 0 10 * 0 120 Cheesecorn 9 15 * 0 122 Baked Lays 4 10 * 0 124 BBQ Snyder 4 10 * 0 126 Pretxel Stix 2 15 * 0 128 TGIF Ched/Bac 5 15 * 0 130 Fritos 4 10 * 0 132 Doritos nacho 1 12 * 0 134 Lays Reg 6 15 * 0 136 Ruffle Ched/SC 4 15 * 0 138 Cheetos 7 12 * 0 140 G'Ma Mini Vanilla 2 10 * 0 142 Famous Amos 3 10 * 0 144 Buddy Bar 6 10 * 0 146 G'Ma's Big Cookies 3 10 * 0 148 Kellogg Fruit Snacks 2 10 * 0 150 Snickers 3 15 * 0 151 M&M Peanut 2 15 * 0 152 Mr. Goodbar 1 15 * 0 153 Twix 3 15 * 0 154 3 Musketeer 3 15 * 0 155 Skittles 1 18 * 0 156 Planters 2oz Peanuts 4 15 * 0 157 Starburst 2 15 * 0 158 Whole Grain Cracker 2 15 * 0 159 Toastchee PB Cracker 4 15 * 0 160 Fresh Pastry 2 12 * 0 162 Fresh Pastry 2 12 * 0 164 Fresh Pastry 3 12 * 0 166 Fresh Pastry 4 15 * 0 168 Fresh Pastry 5 15 * 0 170 Gum & Mint 0 25 * 0 171 Gum & Mint 0 25 * 0 172 Gum & Mint 0 25 * 0 173 Gum & Mint 1 25 * 0 174 Gum & Mint 0 25 * 0 Save Close
Bin Product Par On Hand Retail Price DEX Price Vends Sales 110 LSS Cheetos Jalapeno 10 9 $0.75 $0.75 1 $0.75 112 Honey Twist BBQ Fritos 10 10 $0.75 $0.75 0 $0.00 114 Munchies 10 9 $0.75 $0.75 1 $0.75 116 HMO Pretzels 10 7 $0.75 $0.75 3 $2.25 118 Combos 10 10 $0.75 $0.75 0 $0.00 120 Cheesecorn 15 6 $0.55 $0.55 9 $4.95 122 Baked Lays 10 6 $0.55 $0.55 4 $2.20 124 BBQ Snyder 10 6 $0.55 $0.55 4 $2.20 126 Pretxel Stix 15 13 $0.55 $0.55 2 $1.10 128 TGIF Ched/Bac 15 10 $0.55 $0.55 5 $2.75 130 Fritos 10 6 $0.55 $0.55 4 $2.20 132 Doritos nacho 12 11 $0.55 $0.55 1 $0.55 134 Lays Reg 15 9 $0.55 $0.55 6 $3.30 136 Ruffle Ched/SC 15 11 $0.55 $0.55 4 $2.20 138 Cheetos 12 5 $0.55 $0.55 7 $3.85 140 G'Ma Mini Vanilla 10 8 $0.65 $0.65 2 $1.30 142 Famous Amos 10 7 $0.65 $0.65 3 $1.95 144 Buddy Bar 10 4 $0.65 $0.65 6 $3.90 146 G'Ma's Big Cookies 10 7 $0.65 $0.65 3 $1.95 148 Kellogg Fruit Snacks 10 8 $0.65 $0.65 2 $1.30 150 Snickers 15 12 $0.80 $0.80 3 $2.40 151 M&M Peanut 15 13 $0.80 $0.80 2 $1.60 152 Mr. Goodbar 15 14 $0.80 $0.80 1 $0.80 153 Twix 15 12 $0.80 $0.80 3 $2.40 154 3 Musketeer 15 12 $0.80 $0.80 3 $2.40 155 Skittles 18 17 $0.80 $0.80 1 $0.80 156 Planters 2oz Peanuts 15 11 $0.80 $0.80 4 $3.20 157 Starburst 15 13 $0.80 $0.80 2 $1.60 158 Whole Grain Cracker 15 13 $0.55 $0.55 2 $1.10 159 Toastchee PB Cracker 15 11 $0.55 $0.55 4 $2.20 160 Fresh Pastry 12 10 $1.10 $1.10 2 $2.20 162 Fresh Pastry 12 10 $1.10 $1.10 2 $2.20 164 Fresh Pastry 12 9 $1.10 $1.10 3 $3.30 166 Fresh Pastry 15 11 $1.10 $1.10 4 $4.40 168 Fresh Pastry 15 10 $1.10 $1.10 5 $5.50 170 Gum & Mint 25 25 $0.45 $0.45 0 $0.00 171 Gum & Mint 25 25 $0.45 $0.45 0 $0.00 172 Gum & Mint 25 25 $0.45 $0.45 0 $0.00 173 Gum & Mint 25 24 $0.45 $0.45 1 $0.45 174 Gum & Mint 25 25 $0.45 $0.45 0 $0.00

[brcrumly]

Ok....like i said we already have telemetry and a way to look at whats in the machine and schedule when to service them, through our software provider. It's actually pretty good, but since there are a few bugs, I am trying to find ways around it. Especially since some of our machines are serviced like once every three weeks to once a month and some are seasonal. I appreciate you help.