Tag: custom vending machine

Case Study: San Diego State University

Posted on by John Van Horn

 

IDSvending - Sandiego State University

Serving over 36,000 students, San Diego State University (SDSU) is known for providing students with opportunities to prepare them for the future. What happens, however, when a global pandemic ravages the United States? The leader in public research has to come up with a way to keep students safe while providing them with a quality educational experience.

So, what are some of the pandemic safety challenges that were dealt with on the SDSU campus?

  1. The COVID-19 Pandemic has changed the way SDSU keeps students and staff members safe.
  2. Slowing the spread of COVID-19 was a challenge at SDSU. While students are not required to get tested, SDSU is working hard to limit the spread by providing COVID-19 Test Kit Dispensing Machines across campus.
  3. Single Point of Use testing centers was unrealistic as SDSU, as it has over 36,000 students.

SDSU is requiring all staff members and students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, however, it is still possible for breakthrough COVID-19 cases. SDSU is doing what it can to ensure it can control the spread.

“If you’re worried that you have symptoms, it just makes it very easy to pop on over and grab one, as opposed to just hoping you’re okay,” said Heidi Nguyen, Senior Admissions Counselor at SDSU.

In order to help control the spread of COVID-19, SDSU implemented COVID-19 Test Kit Dispensing Machines across campus, providing testing for students and staff members. Students are tested prior to the semester and regularly throughout. Tests can be accessed for free, once students sign up online.

While students are not required to be tested, they are expected to test if they start feeling any symptoms of COVID-19.

Through iQ Technology, UCapIt’s software solution, SDSU has real-time usage data that is useful for staff planning, budgeting, reporting and compliance purposes.

UC San Diego utilizes the passcode function of iQ Technology for the COVID-19 testing machines. Through iQ Technology, the passcode feature allows system administrators to provide one-time use codes assigned to individual users. An expiration date and time, as well as specific product access, is able to be assigned to each unique passcode.

Due to testing and COVID-19 protocols across campus, including mask wearing, social distancing and required vaccinations, SDSU has been able to quickly test students for COVID-19. Within the first few weeks of the 2021 fall semester, almost 800 tests had been accessed by students.

Through UCapIt’s COVID-19 Test Kit Dispensing Machines, users can access test kits at their convenience 24/7, without staff needing to be on-site. In addition, the machines can be equipped with patent-pending UVC light sanitization technology, UVend Technology. UVend sanitizes the high-touch surfaces on the machine quickly and safely by killing or inactivating up to 99.9% of viruses and bacteria, including the virus that causes COVID-19.

COVID-19 Test Kit Dispensing Machines are located across campus and can be found using the campus’ interactive map. Additionally, with the help of the Test Kit Dispensing Machines, SDSU has been able to:

  1. Reduce wait times for COVID-19 testing
  2. Help control the speak of COVID-19 across SDSU’s campus
  3. Keep track of students and staff members who have been tested. 

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt everyday life, campuses across the country are in need of solutions to control the spread, SDSU has stayed on top by providing a safer educational experience for students and staff members.

Does your educational institution need an efficient, convenient way to provide a COVID-19 test kit and other public health supplies to students and staff? If so, contact UCapIt to schedule a live, personalized demo to see how our iQ Technology can help your organization.

The System Your Manufacturing Floor is Missing

Posted on by John Van Horn

As a supervisor in a manufacturing company, it is your job to look for ways to cut overhead costs without reducing employee productivity. One of the most efficient ways to do this is by considering your inventory management system. Do your employees have to rummage through a supply closet looking for gloves? Are they spending precious minutes searching a bin in order to find safety glasses? If so, you are wasting time and money that can be easily resolved with an efficient production floor management system.

Inventory management systems, such as Vend Safety from Intelligent Dispensing Solutions, determine how and when an employee accesses an item. In order for an employee to access a safety mask, for example, they must first swipe their employee ID card. Then, their item will be dispensed to them and it will be detailed for you in a report. Additionally, it can be set up in such a way that employees must enter a PIN number or even through biometrics. This set of safety precautions saves you money through controlled production floor inventory management.

Vend Safety allows for more accurate inventory management. It eliminates the need to spend countless hours tallying the number of face masks or gloves you have on hand. Instead, administrators are able to track who accessed what item(s), when they accessed the item(s) and the quantity of the item they accessed. This chain of custody is critical when identifying and mitigating risks in a crisis situation, as well as is useful on an inventory management basis during normal operating circumstances. 

iQ Technology, Vend Safety’s proprietary software, saves you time by cutting down on inventory management. Eliminate the hours spent on counting inventory and organizing your supply closet. iQ Technology has reporting that details inventory information for you. This eliminates wasting money on unnecessary supplies and allows you to reallocate your time to something more important. 

“The integration of IDS’ iQ Technology software with our existing point-of-sale (POS) system drives the success of our 300 machines healthy vending program. Plus, the software’s real-time reporting and alerts allow us to manage the program efficiently and effectively,” states Julie Hedine, Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Pasco County School District.

In addition to offering automatic dispensing solutions, many companies are looking into offering personal protective equipment to supply to companies to stock their equipment. Offering both dispensing equipment and the PPE supplies to stock them moves the responsibility of maintaining your equipment and supplies from you, back to us. It reduces the time you spend with PPE replenishment. 

Inventory management solutions can come in the form of an automatic supply dispenser or a supply locker. Supply dispensers allow employees to increase productivity and reduce employee downtime by spreading out your storage to your point of use. They ensure your team has exactly what they need, when and where they need it. Supply lockers provide secure accountability for reusable assets and consumable products. Single and multiple item dispense, check-in/check-out, loan periods and asset management are all possible with supply lockers. 

Supply dispensers are useful for products of varying shapes and sizes. They are especially useful for one-time-use products or products that should not be shared amongst employees, such as safety glasses and face masks. Trays within the dispenser can be configured to provide employees with large items, such as boxes of alcohol wipes, to something small, such as earplugs.

For items of various shapes and sizes that need to be returned for others to use, such as tools, you may find a supply locker to be more useful. Supply lockers are adjustable and can be made to have anywhere from 3 compartments to up to 22 compartments. Additionally, select supply lockers include interior lighting and chargers within each compartment. This allows your employees to recharge tools, if necessary before someone else needs to use them. Both supply dispensers and supply lockers can be attached, with the help of a satellite supply locker.

“Our vending machines are great and perform like they’re brand new,” says Daniel Bolens, Desktop Services Specialist at JAMF Software. “IDS is the perfect solution and working with them is a very positive experience. We evaluated other suppliers and IDS had the best technological solution. The machines are embraced by the team and popular in the office.” 

Implementing an inventory management system in your manufacturing company allows you to cut back on time and money spent organizing supply closets and ensuring your employees are not hoarding supplies. Whether you are on the lookout for supply dispensers, supply lockers or a combination of both, Intelligent Dispensing Solutions has an inventory management solution to help cut overhead costs within your manufacturing company.

For more information about Vend Safety, or any other IDS products, give us a call at 1-877-771-4446.

iQ Technology | Revolutionary Inventory and Tracking System

Posted on by John Van Horn

Everyone is familiar with the ubiquitous vending machine. Since its first development in London, during the 1880s, as a vehicle for dispensing post cards, these machines have become a lifesaver for hungry office workers, peckish students, and thirsty travelers. With the convenience of walking over and pumping some quarters into the machine, the consumer has ready access to quick treats on the go, regardless of where the nearest convenience store might be located. Today, thanks to the revolutionary inventory and tracking system of iQ Technology, custom vending machines are an excellent way to manage the entire sales process from point of sale purchases to inventory control to enhanced security features. It is almost like having a computer that dispenses cold sandwiches.

What Makes iQ Technology Different

At Intelligent Dispensing Solutions, they have harnessed iQ Technologies to produce innovative custom vending machines, which gives owner-operators unprecedented control over all aspects of their product dispensing business model. In developing their smart supply vending machine, they have leveraged the power of cloud-based computing to transform the way vending machine manufacturers conceive of their products. The result, of course, is that vending machine operators have unprecedented levels of customization at their fingertips. Just some of the innovations that their designs supply include:

  • Cloud-based Computing Power
  • Multi-Machine Management
  • Secure Transactions
  • Powerful Reporting Tools
  • Alerts

Gone are the days when vending machine owners needed to add up the coins in their machines, and subtract the number of candy bars that are missing from the inventory to see where they stand from a sales perspective. Now, all that information is readily available to owners of a custom vending machine.

Also absent, is the singular focus of using vending machines merely to dispense food items to hungry consumers on the go who are operating in a busy environment. Today, the concept of the “office vending machine” has expanded to include more than just a dispensary for bad coffee, and now these machines are being used to dispense, with just a swipe of an employee badge, all manner of office related supplies from a new computer mouse to a packet of post-it-notes. IDS office vending machines offer a simple system to dispense and track office supplies.

What Makes Intelligent Dispensing Solutions Different

While their groundbreaking, vending technology is on the cutting edge of innovative, Intelligent Dispensing Solutions cut their teeth in the vending industry more than 80 years before, and they bring to the table a vast array of business related vending solutions that they have gleaned over the course of eight decades. Their design team is standing by to answer any questions about the manufacture of advanced technology vending machines for any business and all industries.

The Simple, Central & Smart Way to Track & Dispense Scrubs

Posted on by John Van Horn

Hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities and practices are constantly trying to balance quality care with inventory control and minimization of costs. This can be difficult, and it pays to find ways to control costs without compromising care, comfort, and safety. One area of inventory that is notorious for shrinkage is scrubs. Personnel frequently forget to return scrubs, and they get lost or thrown away. Not only that, but standard methods of storing, cleaning, and stocking scrubs may be inefficient.

Fortunately, there is a better way. Imagine a custom scrub inventory tracking and management vending machine that not only stores and dispenses clean scrubs but also tracks them.

ScrubTrak systems offer an easy way to dispense, track, and store scrubs using powerful, cloud-based software that can be customized for your facility. Flexible management tools allow management to generate usage reports that can be printed online or sent to a desktop application. These features put scrubs inventory control at management’s fingertips and allow for better planning and greater cost efficiency.

In order to access the scrubs in the machine, personnel must key in a code. The computerized, cloud-based system stores all data, and management receives regular notifications regarding stock and other data. When stock is getting low, a notification is sent out. Personnel can return used scrubs to the vending machine, and that will be tracked as well.

Management can control the inventory, allowing only certain personnel access to the scrubs, and setting limits on how many scrubs are dispensed per person.

Storage of scrubs using a uniform vending machine is much more streamlined. Both clean and soiled scrubs are housed in the space-saving machine. No need to keep them locked up or to distribute keys to certain personnel. They can be accessed at any time of day.

Vending machine manufacturers that provide and maintain this service include custom features like remote inventory control and mobile notifications. For facilities that are large, or have more than one location, these vending machines are ideal. Personnel can retrieve scrubs from one machine, and return them to another. The cloud-based technology keeps track of all the vending machines for the facility, tracking and recording inventory easily. This ultimately reduces waste, and shrinkage and improves efficiency.

The Value of Social Commerce for Custom Vending Machine Owners

Posted on by John Van Horn

There is no denying the power of social media. From kindergartners to grandparents, people all across the world are going online to share their lives and their interests. It is a wave that continues to rise and one that businesses of all types are attempting to take advantage of.

Old Navy Combines Custom Vending and Social Media

As a recent article from In Style notes, even vending machines are now part of the social media equation. Clothing company Old Navy decided to draw attention to its $1 flip-flop sale by dropping off custom vending machines in random places – machines that would dispense free flip-flops for a tweet. Interested consumers could keep track of these machines on Old Navy’s Twitter.

This effort by Old Navy demonstrates that such marketing avenues have true potential for businesses savvy enough to learn about and utilize social media platforms. Unfortunately, not all vending machine owners have million dollar marketing teams to come up with such interesting social media campaigns. For many owners the idea of marketing through social media may seem foreign and even intimidating.

However, there are companies working to make things easier. Fanwise offers a way for vending machine owners to create positive social media feedback in exchange for free products. More options like this are bound to appear as the desire for a social media presence grows among businesses.


Why Social Commerce Matters for Vending Machine Owners

Social media like Twitter and Facebook allow businesses to deliver interesting content and promotions to customers that want to be communicated with. If someone likes what a company is selling and chooses to connect with them through social media, the stage becomes set for ongoing interaction. This makes it easier to build your brand with customers and allows them to say positive things about your company. The more positive reviews and pervasive your brand becomes, the more profit you can expect to generate.

The best part about all of this is that it is free for companies to take advantage of. It may take some effort on the part of vending machine owners to find the right balance, but once they do they will have a new marketing channel that reliably delivers customers to their machines.

New and Trending: Vending With Fendi

Posted on by John Van Horn

Fendi recently launched their new campaign and it revolves around.. haute couture vending machines.

As a custom vending machine company, we’ve always known how the possibilities are endless when it comes to vending products and supplies, but Fendi has taken it to a whole new level. The mastermind behind the new campaign is the famous fashion mogul Karl Lagerfeld. It’s no wonder he’s replaced the contents of the typical vending machine with high-line purses as his distaste for junk food is well known.

The Fendi handbag vending machines can be spotted at the Fendi Roma store in Italy, Fendi SoHo Pop-up-Shop in NYC and at the official Fendi Flagship boutique in Paris.

Fendi Custom Vending Machine
Fendi Paris Flagship Boutique (source: Fendi instagram)
Fendi Custom Vending Machine in NYC SoHo Pop-Up-Shop
Fendi Custom Vending Machine in NYC SoHo Pop-Up-Shop (source: Fendi Pinterest)
Fendi Custom Vending Machine
Fendi Vending Machine on Display in Rome, Italy (source: Fendi Instagram)

The Origin of Custom Vending

Posted on by John Van Horn

 

Historical Vending Machine

The world of vending has evolved over years to include advances like remote monitoring and inventory control software; but, vending machines have a history far older than you might think. Custom vending machines may seem like a new technology; however, they are actually a very old invention. The first custom vending machine, in fact, was created in the first century AD by a Greek mathematician.

Hero of Alexandria, was responsible for many startling inventions. He created a heat-driven engine that could open and close heavy stone doors. He also devised many objects that were used in the city’s theaters, such as a device that raised and lowered curtains and another that would create thunder-like sound effects. But, one of his most useful inventions was a custom vending machine, which is described in his book “Mechanics and Optics.” Hero’s machine would dispense holy water when a coin was inserted into the machine. The coin would be inserted into a slot at the top of the machine, falling down onto a pan attached to a lever. The lever would open a valve that let water flow out until the coin fell completely off, closing the valve and ending the dispensing.

We want to take your business into the future of vending. Here at IDS, we offer a large selection of top of the line custom vending machines with remote inventory control, custom supplies dispensing and more. Give us a call for more information 1877-771-4446.

Office Supply Solutions to Enhance Your Business

Posted on by John Van Horn

When it comes to running a business, efficiency is everything. After all, wasted time spent dealing with any mundane matter eventually leads to a reduction in profit. Therefore, keeping an office running smoothly is paramount when it comes to owning and operating a profitable business. Read below to learn how custom vending machines could help businesses do just that:

Managing supplies: 

Paper goods, pens, sticky notes and paper clips are all items that are crucial to most offices. Unfortunately, keeping an office properly stocked is not always easy. Employees who are not held accountable tend to use more supplies than they actually need or end up taking office supplies home with them.

If office supplies are kept in custom vending machine designed to dispense office supplies, employers are able to keep up with what office supplies each employee is using. Furthermore, even if employees are responsible and do not abuse their access to office supplies, having office supplies dispensed through a machine helps employers keep track of what supplies are being used the most and allows them to better judge overall costs of materials for their businesses.

Convenience:

In addition to better managing office supplies, a vending machine that dispenses office supplies also is convenient for both employees and employers. When employees are in need of a particular supply, all they have to do is make a quick trip to the machine, use their employee identification badge and just like that they have the supplies they need.

By meeting a real need for inventory control for offices, custom office vending machine solutions offers employers a way to ensure efficiency during the day-to-day operation of their businesses.

Epic Oreo Custom Cream Vending Machine

Posted on by John Van Horn

Attendees at this year’s SXSW festival got a chance to try out treats from a very unusual custom vending machine. A pair of machines that made 3D printed Oreos were in the brand’s Oreo Trending Vending Lounge doling out a dozen different flavors and colors of cookies.

People could pick from a list of trending fillings and the custom Oreo vending machine would go to work. The flavors and colors were determined by Twitter trends such as #NYC and the Ellen selfie. Anyone who wanted to join the conversation was able to chime in under the tag #eatthetweet. The cookies were a success, with many users tweeting their pleasure at the high-tech treats. Each cookie was created in under two minutes. Custom Vending Machines

While machines that make cookies that change with social media trends are a fun novelty, there are many real-world applications for custom vending machines. These machines can be used for a wide range of applications from tracking office supply inventory to dispensing medical supplies. Looking for an easier way to manage a product or supplies? We have a wide range of vending machines for sale to meet your needs.

4 Wacky Custom Vending Machines

Posted on by John Van Horn

There are many unique custom vending machines around the world, but these four have to be a few of the wackiest ever:

custom vending machines

Gold-to-Go: 
These vending machines cater to the super wealthy and dispense gold bars or coins. Patrons can pay for their gold either by cash or plastic, and the machine even uses an ID scanner and camera combo to prevent money laundering.

Share Happy Ice Cream Vending Machines:
This $20,000 vending machine takes a picture of patrons as they approach. If the patron is not smiling, the machine will alter the picture of the patron using mustaches, glasses, funny hats and bow ties to make them smile. Once the customer smiles, the machine will give out a free ice cream treat. The profit comes not from selling ice cream but from capturing and collecting images and valuable demographic information for promotional use. If customers are not “happy” about giving away their image, they can pay for their ice cream the old-fashioned way and keep their image to themselves.

Let’s Pizza:
This vending machine makes pizza from scratch in three minutes all while allowing patrons to watch as it mixes, kneads and spins the pizza dough into shape. After the shape has been formed, the machine adds sauce and toppings then cooks the pizza to perfection.

Passive Aggressive Anger Release Machine:
This custom vending machine allows customers to smash fine china into powder. The effect smashing china has on patrons seems to calm the nerves and release anger.

There are many other wacky vending machines around the world, but the four listed above are perhaps the most unique.