Networked Machines Sell More

Operators who are implementing these new methodologies in a controlled and systematic manner are reporting good results and anticipating even better ones in the future, thanks to several emerging trends.

One is the willingness of patrons to pay higher vend prices for high-quality fresh food when they can pay with a card. Operators are responding by upgrading their offerings and equipping their food machines to accept cashless payments.

Likewise, many operators report they are attracting new patrons willing to pay a premium for better-for-you snacks and beverages. As with food customers, they are more inclined to do so when cashless payment is an option. And, while they experiment with upscaling their food selections and expanding their better-for-you menus, a growing number of vending companies are using telemetry to keep tabs on machine sales to ensure a mix of the best sellers and to minimize waste and staleage.

Like many vending companies, Imperial was prompted to invest in the technology when the economy began to turn down in 2008. Its founder, Paul Tims, and president Lance Whorton, recognized that greater operational efficiency would be vital to offset lower per-machine sales. The operators understood the role remote machine monitoring could play to help them achieve that goal.

"When the recession hit, the sales decrease was out of our control, but we knew we had to find ways to manage costs and reduce operating expenses," recalled Whorton. "We knew we could use remote collection of machine sales data to increase route efficiency and lower our operational costs by reducing the number of vehicles on the road and the related costs of fuel, maintenance and total labor, since drivers could visit more locations a day and spend less time at each." Whorton said the operational benefits his company gained through telemetry have far exceeded his expectations. He reported that it took Imperial two and a half years pay back its investment in telemetry through the cost savings it has realized.

Cantaloupe Systems' Seed platform gathers data from machines and transmits it wirelessly over the Internet, enabling optimized scheduling that delivers maximum route and merchandising efficiencies. By analyzing inventory levels, cash in the machine and geographic distribution, the Web-based application automatically generates efficient delivery schedule and pick lists based on real-time item-level sales data.

Among the most evident impacts of Imperial's systemwide Seed deployment is that its 70 current routes -- serving Oklahoma,Polypropylene and polythene can be used in a process called Injection Mold. Arkansas, northern Texas and southern Missouri -- were consolidated from 105 through the company's use of remote machine monitoring. "And our existing routes are tremendous, doing more business today than when we started with telemetry," Whorton noted.The academy provides ideal conditions to learn kung fu in china traditional quiet surrounding.

Systemwide deployment of the technology took two years from start to finish. It began in early 2009 with a test of Cantaloupe Systems' Seed platform in 200 machines on three routes in the Tulsa,Manufacturer of precision Plastic Mould for cameras, OK, area. Imperial's goal, to reduce them to two, was achieved, paving the way to extend the technology across its operation. Prekitting was high on Imperial Vending's list of priorities, once it had Seed in place. The company had experimented with prekitting product deliveries by forecasting with its vending management software, but found that its pick lists often did not match machine needs because sales can fluctuate unpredictably.

"The move to wireless technology immediately provided more accurate and up-to-date inventory data that made prekitting successful," Whorton observed.Welcome to the Perth china kung fu school. "The guesswork is eliminated for our warehouse personnel, because the wirelessly transmitted item-level sales data gives them orders to load based on the real-time needs of each machine."

Whorton emphasized that, with consumers increasingly accustomed to paying with credit and debit cards everywhere they shop and dine, developing a network to support card-based payment has been just as important as the operational efficiencies Imperial has gained through wireless remote monitoring. "We started with Cantaloupe telemetry,TBC help you confidently buy mosaic from factories in China. with a plan to migrate into cashless from there," he told VT. "As Cantaloupe launched Seed Cashless, we began rolling out their solution. It will be very important, moving forward, both to deliver consumers payment flexibility and to drive sales."

Imperial currently has cashless readers installed on 10% of its machines, but its goal is to extend that capability systemwide. "We are trying to understand costs and whether it's necessary to have cashless on every machine in the same breakroom," Whorton told VT. "Our initial goal is to make cashless available to all clients, and expand from there."

Enabling widespread use of card-based payments ties into Imperial's plan to expand its use of the Sprout prepaid promotion and loyalty reward card, which is available to members of the Vend Marketing Institute marketing and purchasing cooperative. "It's the first viable, scalable program of its kind in the market, and it continues to become more popular and attract more interest," said Whorton. "We know the move to telemetry is a good investment to make us more efficient and it's always dynamic, helping us continually improve. But we're also excited about the consumer opportunity, as consumers rely on cashless in their everyday lives, and our ability to offer promotions and rewards, which will continue to grow overall sales."