Automatic Merchandiser serves the business management, marketing, technology and product information needs of its readers including vending operators, coffee service operators, product brokers, and product and equipment distributors in print.
Issue link: http://automaticmerchandiser.epubxp.com/i/310482
• Do our cashless receipts match the electronic deposits we received? Counting money accurately is everyone's business. Route drivers, technicians and processing staff all need to take accurate currency count- ing seriously. Cash accountability should be a daily priority for at least one manager. The more we count — the more we keep! No. 2: Count your product Admittedly, counting product is a bit more complicated than counting receipts. Creating sustain- able inventory systems has been the bane of many a manager. The daily cycle of distribution (warehouse, truck, location, machine, warehouse) sees product moving about at almost lightning speed. It can be managed, however, and I suggest tackling prod- uct accountability by focusing at the point-of-sale level. Once again, control boards do an excellent job of collecting sales data. It is the route driver's job to treat the collection of that data as importantly as he or she treats the collection of cash. Verifed begin- ning or ending machine inventories are what make or break prekit based delivery cycles. A culture of verify- ing item-level inventories should be embedded into every single person who visits a machine. This includes technicians and customer service personnel. Machine level spiral and column counts can be verifed on most handheld based vending man- agement systems (VMS) in under 30 seconds. Taking this time at every machine and making column counting part of each and every vend visit will send ripples of effciency throughout the organization. My work with operators around North America has shown there to be sig- nifcantly improved sales to sellout ratios on routes dedicated to count- ing every machine every day, as well as fewer daily "fres" for the route drivers involved. If automated retail delivery can be boiled down to Fill It, Clean It, Count It — then verifying machine inventories are essential to success. No. 3: Count your problems How many snack machines were serviced yesterday with fve or more empty columns? How many micro markets were ser- viced and left with more than three empty products? How many soda machines yesterday recorded more than 10 units of spoilage? These types of daily delivery cycle questions can be answered by current VMS and need to be analyzed by operations teams on a daily basis. Problems that are tracked have a good chance of get- ting fxed. Problems that aren't have no incentive to change. Obviously, not every "problem" can be watched all the time. It may be best to pick 1 or 2 metrics (high sold out machines, low volume machines, under flled machines, etc.) and simply begin tracking them for a week. Most opera- tors are amazed at what they learn when they take the time to count or track a nagging operational problem. No. 4: Count your progress Where does the oper- ating team want to be 6 months, 3 months or even a month from today? Tracked metrics, such as "machines short more than $2" should begin to show improvement within 20 to 30 business days. Weekly or monthly management meetings that include a review of operating metrics usu- ally generate positive discussion and drive productivity. A culture of counting makes an excellent springboard for better communica- tions throughout an organization. Tracking progress with tangible, measurable metrics can be used as an excellent motivating tool and give members of the operating team focus and meaning. Creating a culture of regular counting can certainly be met with resistance. When change comes to a company, it often shows up dressed as "more work" which can strain thinly staffed operations. In addi- tion to change, the more we count, the more we begin to hold those who are counting accountable. Operators must work with their employees to agree on how quickly a culture of counting can be incor- porated. Starting slowly is better than not starting at all. Once regu- lar counting procedures become entrenched, more can always be added. Success breeds success, so celebrate progress whenever pos - sible. Has a route driver invento - ried every soda machine on his/ her route for a week? Congratulate them with a gift card. Have cash accountability issues gone down by 25 percent over the last month? Buy pizza for the offce and let them know why. Technology works best when the humans who use it have incentive to make it work better. Technology in the hands of those who think it's useless has very little chance of long term success. Advancements in automation are certain to continue shaping the future. Becoming a data-driven com- pany places operators in a great posi- tion to accommodate whatever comes next. Regular, consistent counting procedures are key to gathering data worth using. Clean It, Fill It, Count It and you won't go wrong! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ben White was the general manager at Monumental Vending in Beltsville, Md. He recently started Vend- ing Insights, Inc. to help operators incorporate technology and advance large projects. Contact White via email at ben@vendinginsights.com. 16 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com May 2014 D A T A M I N I N G T E C H N O L O G Y autm_14-17_0514DataMining_F.indd 16 5/2/14 11:04 AM