VENDING
TECHNOLOGY
INTEGRATION
Figure 1 – Vending solutions providers product offerings and features
VMS
Hosted
VMS
AirVend
Cashless
Telemetry
Prekitting
/dynamic
scheduling
Warehouse
picking
systems
Consumer
Operator
video/touch reporting
screen
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Arrow / In-One / Coinco Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Cantaloupe
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Micro
market
integration
CompuVend
Y
Crane / Streamware
Y
Y
LightSpeed Automation
Y
USA Technologies
Y
Vagabond
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
VendScreen
VendSys
Y
Y
MEI / Easitrax
Validata
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
This list of general capabilities was provided by the technology solutions providers and edited by the authors. Specifcs vary by provider.
can be rolled out at any time by any
operator, with some optional dependencies that we will get into later.
Additionally, many traditional
vending operators are also investing
in micro markets and some initial
work has been done to integrate
micro markets into existing VMS
and pick-to-light systems as well.
More capabilities and providers
The vending landscape has
changed in the past few years as
existing providers have added
more capabilities to their systems
and new providers have entered
the market. While operators have
never had so many choices for
solutions providers and specifc
functionality, these options can
sometimes seem overwhelming.
One example is that most traditional VMS providers now have
modules to do prekitting and dynamic
scheduling, but these modules can also
come from telemetry providers that
integrate data into an existing VMS.
Another example is that all cashless
providers now provide telemetry data,
and virtually all traditional telemetry
providers offer cashless solutions. At
least one telemetry provider has also
moved into the VMS space.
For operators considering a VMS
solution, choices now include tra-
ditional software licensing models
(typically more money up front), and
hosted Software as a Solution (SaaS)
offering a pay as you go model. How
micro markets ft into the existing
systems is noted in Figure 1.
VDI puts it together
Operators may now be
asking "But how do these
solutions all work together?"
Let us introduce VDI or vending
data interchange.
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October 2013
VendingMarketWatch.com
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