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ates a better customer experience, Brown believes. "As vending opera- tors, we make a promise to our cus- tomers that they are going to be able to get product from our machines," he said. "If you don't have reliable machines or payment methods and the customer leaves empty-handed, we are breaking that promise we made to them." All ReFresh USI vending machines come equipped with a cashless reader, and in the first quarter of 2017 the company will also begin launching USA Technologies' MORE. loyalty rewards program, tying it into both the vending program and into the company's two micro markets. "This technology just makes the experience that much better for the customer and gives us a leg up on the competition," said Brown. The company has not only been able to create efficiencies with cash- less, it hopes to use technology to trim other costs as well. In 2017 ReFresh is integrating a vending manage- ment system (VMS) with VendSys, which will allow them to ultimately eliminate their rolling warehouse. "We hope to get new trucks — more economical ones — and begin prekit- ting," said Brown. "This should cut down on gasoline costs and time spent at locations." Brown likes that he can use gathered data to make decisions that will benefit his company and his customers. "Information is key and data is everything in this business," said Brown. "It helps us understand what our customers want and what they are buying." A focus on product ReFresh guarantees that its machines not only are the cleanest, newest and most technologically savvy, but that they are also stocked with the best product. Brown includes more than 100 SKUs in his snack machines, using data from across the region to find the best-selling products. "I tell my customers that product will rarely be stale or expired because I place the items that customers want to buy, and I can prove that's what they purchase," he said. "I never want our customers to say 'It's always the same thing' — I want them to have variety." This means that while Brown offers healthy items, he doesn't make a vending machine 100 per- cent healthy. "I offer them the choice, and they can make the deci- sion," he continued. In 2017, Brown will offer 20 percent health-focused items in his machines. Brown consistently analyzes the business and isn't afraid of making changes when he believes them to be better for the long haul. When he launched into vending, he wanted to jump headfirst, so that meant also launching OCS and water service as well. "If you're going to do it, you've got to do it right," he said. ReFresh launched OCS and water simultaneously, offering ION Natural Choice Water, as well as a 5-gallon option. And when it came to coffee, A new name to reflect today's service In 2016, ReFresh Facility Services rebranded from its former name, EAGLE USA. Jack Brown, president and CEO of ReFresh Facility Services sat down with several employees and a marketing manager from Indianapolis. "EAGLE USA wasn't resonating with the type of services we were providing for our customers," said Brown. "With the help of our market- ing manager, we were able to determine that the word 'Re- fresh' more adequately reflects all sides of our business. We clean, we refill, we restock and refresh locations." Brown updated all logos and made the change on all signage right away. But most impor- tantly, he noted, was getting the proper changes to the IRS. "It was a little bit of a chal- lenge at first because although we retained our federal ID number, it no longer matched the name so some companies had issues paying us." When Jack Brown launched his vending segment in 2011, he also decided to add OCS and water service. 40 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com February/March 2017 O P E R A T I O N P R O F I L E