PREKITTING
Side-entry vehicles allow drivers to reach prekitting totes and products from the ground, reducing workman's compensation claims.
How
to start
prekitting
By Emily Refermat, Editor
One of the fastest growing
trends in servicing vending
machines has the capacity
to increase revenue 20
percent per route.
T
o tote, or not to tote? That is the
frst question a vending operation
of any size using delivery trucks
as rolling warehouses has to answer.
Prekitting or prepacking totes/tubs
in order to make one trip into a location has some great advantages. It
increases revenue per route, allows
for lighter vehicles with better fuel
August 2013
economy and isn't dependent on a
lot of technology. But where should
operators start and what should they
expect? Here's what the experts say.
When to start prekitting
When McMurray Coin Machines in
Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada,
decided to prekit, the company had
13 routes doing traditional curbside
picking. "Most of my good drivers
were servicing 18 to 20 machines a
day," said Jacques Dube, operations
manager. "We decided to add prekitting to improve that."
Additionally, Dube wanted to
get the trucks, which cost $75,000
each, to stop being parked in front of
locations and start bringing in more
revenue. In four weeks, Dube had
each truck doing 30 machines and
he dropped down to 10 routes. By
adjusting the prekitting parameters,
such as increasing depletion rates
to 35 percent and having no more
than two sold out columns as well as
adding dynamic scheduling, he was
able to drop two additional trucks
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