But how about safety glasses, fasteners, gloves or other types of industrial equipment? Thanks to Fastenal vending machines, employees at some Fairfield County businesses are doing just that.
"This was the original idea of the company back in 1967," Todd Pettit said. "The guy who started it all wanted to have vending for fasteners. Now here we are years later, and we're finally getting it implemented."
Pettit is the manager of the store at 2245 W. Fair Ave. He oversaw a move last week to that location from a building near the Goodwill store on West Fair Avenue.
The vending machines are called FAST 5000s and dispense supplies and equipment mostly at industrial plants.
The FAST 5000 machines work like traditional vending machines, but with sophisticated access controls and reporting.
To receive a product, workers scan their identification cards or enter a code.
If their request is accepted, the transaction is completed and tracked by the system, which is connected to the Internet.
Users can also be prompted to enter pertinent data before vending, like a cost center or job number. That allows management to track usage accordingly.
Because the system is Internet-based, managers can go online to adjust access settings, monitor machine health, and view real-time inventory and usage data.
"They're just like any other vending machines," Pettit said. "It's basically the exact same thing."
Pettit said company policy would not allow him to say how many local companies are using the machines. But his store is responsible for installing and supplying the machines locally.
The machines are custom built to the customer's needs, and can also dispense items like drill bits, batteries and
"The safety products are the biggest things we're seeing now going into them because you've got to have safety products around," Pettit said. "Especially these bigger companies. They've got to have a wide variety of different gloves and things like that."
According to Fastenal, nearly 10 percent of Fortune 1,000 companies are using FAST 5000 vending machines.
"These things are going in all over the country," Pettit said. "The key thing to it is that everybody is trying to find ways to cut cost. We have these set up where everything runs off of consignment. Not only are you now freeing up your inventory, but your also paying as you go and your getting bulk pricing but you're taking profits individually."
When stock for an item runs low, the system sends an automated order to the local Fastenal store for replenishment, eliminating stock-outs and paperwork. And through the optional consignment plan, customers pay only for dispensed items, allowing them to remove inventory costs from their books.
"By providing a secure, 24/7 flow of supplies near the work area, it's helping organizations eliminate inventory costs, reclaim production hours, and cut product consumption -- in many cases, by 30 percent or more," Fastenal executive vice president of internal operations Cory Jansen said. "In today's economy, those savings can make the difference between profits versus losses, or hiring versus layoffs."
Fastenal sells industrial and construction supplies in more than 2,500 stores.
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