Industrial vending machines have grown in popularity around the globe for their easy access to mission-critical items any time of the day or night — a must-have for businesses that run around the clock. Coronavirus pandemic fears and social distancing requirements have also accelerated vending machine adoption in some unlikely industries such as fleet management, manufacturing and healthcare. Vending is safe, minimizes touchpoints and provides access to pre-packaged items employees require during first, second or third shifts.
Traditionally, vending machines were thought useful only for dispensing snack items and soft drinks. Over time, business leaders discovered how impactful they could be for operations and inventory management of everyday supplies typically overlooked in budgeting.
Vending machines are easy to use, convenient and offer flexibility in both placement of the machine and the machine’s ability to vend items of various sizes. Businesses use vending machines to vend a variety of industrial supplies like:
- Cutting tools
- Tools
- Disposable gloves
- Hydration products
- Janitorial and sanitation supplies
- Maintenance, repair, operations (MRO) supplies
- Office supplies
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Safety items
- Spare parts
Curious if vending can help your business? Download A Distributor’s Guide to Best Practices in Vending & Inventory Control
Download the Free Report Now
Vending and Software Improves Inventory Control and Availability Amid Tight Supply
As a result of vending’s flexibility and convenience, the global vending machine market is expected to reach almost $57 billion by 2025 according to Grand View Research. Rising adoption of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) is expected to continue that growth as more companies implement technology to keep up with record demand and supply shortages. Recent advances such as low-cost technology and simple, yet powerful software in some of today’s vending solutions have made this value-added solution accessible to businesses large and small.
Curious how vending can improve production efficiency and inventory item availability and consumption in your business?
Vending programs give businesses more control over how they manage their inventory items. When industrial vending machines are coupled with inventory control software, businesses can track inventory usage and customize restrictions and permissions to minimize common inventory issues such as shrinkage and waste.
Vending also helps labor costs and production flows. When industrial vending machines are placed at the point-of-use, workers spend less time walking to and from the storeroom looking for items needed to perform their tasks. In addition, employee safety and regulatory compliance are improved with easy access to the safety-related items workers need.
What Industries Have Implemented Industrial Vending Solutions?
While vending was historically used for convenience services and micro-markets (unattended retail locations), industrial vending machine use has expanded to industries that require specialized tools, parts and materials needed to perform job functions.
As such, are forecasted to witness the highest growth rate in the industrial vending market due to the need for MRO tools and PPE. As employees return to work, Grand View Research anticipates that office buildings will be among the fastest-growing segment of vending growth for their space-saving, cleanliness and organizational capabilities.
The oil and gas sector have also increased their use of industrial vending systems due to the need for precise inventory management. Oil-drilling equipment, parts and PPE are expensive, and better management of these items not only reduces unnecessary costs but also improves worker safety throughout upstream, midstream and downstream segments.
Advanced technological solutions like vending continue to expand in industries including:
- Auto Parts Manufacturing
- Aerospace
- Corporate Offices
- Fleet Maintenance
- Food & Beverage
- Government
- Healthcare
- Industrial Manufacturing
- Military
- Mining
- Oil & Gas
- Rail & Transit
- Retail
- Safety
- Steel Mills
- Veterinary
Industrial Vending Machine Market: Customer Success Stories
Inventory solutions like industrial vending help distributors offer their customers solutions to lower their operating costs, improve production rates and minimize safety-related concerns in a variety of industries. Explore these 1sourcevend customer success stories:
Medical, Telecommunications and Electronics: Vend Drilling and Cutting Tools
Lubker Distribution implemented vending machines from 1sourcevend to vend drilling and cutting tools. As a result, they experienced increased customer spend, streamlined sales, customer-supplier consolidation and increased visibility of inventory items.
“Over the course of nine months, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in customer spend. We project $75,000 in additional sales for the first 12 months based on current sales levels, simply because we said we could offer vending,” — Jeff Laub, General Manager at Lubker Distribution. Read full case study.
Manufacturing: Vend Industrial, Safety and Janitorial Supplies
J Supply Company wanted a better solution to meet growing customer demands and achieve better inventory control. They implemented vending from 1sourcevend and experienced increased customer loyalty, increased accountability of inventory usage, increased customer spend and increased customer satisfaction.
“There are no negatives to this machine. You can keep up with what’s going in and out of your customer’s location. Customers can manipulate the reports so they know exactly how much they’re buying and how much they’re using,” — David Woodard, Sales Team Leader at J Supply Company. Read full case study.
Oil & Gas and Food & Beverage: Vend Tools & Fasteners
Hill Threaded wanted an easy-to-use vending solution at a reasonable price point to vend MRO supplies, tools and fasteners to multiple shift customers. They implemented vending from 1sourcevend and expanded to include safety and cleaning items. They experienced increased visibility, improved inventory accountability, increased customer spend, improved safety compliance and increased customer stickiness as a result.
“We’re a relatively small company with one brand and we’re competing against multilevel, multinational companies that have 100 times the assets we do. But our technical knowledge combined with 1sourcevend’s vending solutions allows us to react faster than our competitors,” Dale Hill, President at Hill Threaded Products. Read full case study.
Interested in learning more? Visit our website.
1sourcevend’s point-of-use inventory solutions and software are designed by distributors for distributors looking to differentiate themselves from the competition. Learn how we can help you choose the right inventory management software and American-made vending solutions to empower your customers. Request a Demo.