Industrial inventory and tool management has become a staple in manufacturing and across industries like construction, healthcare, and power generation. In fact, a market report from Grandview Research estimates that the market for industrial vending machines will grow by almost 10% in the next 6 years. Now that we’ve had a taste for the productivity, efficiency and financial gains from using technology to manage and track inventory usage, the old “pen and paper” method won’t cut it anymore.
With higher demand comes more innovation – more styles and technologies for implementing a tool management system than ever before. Here, we help break down all the styles of inventory and tool vending machines, and when to use each one.
Tool Lockers
One of the most popular styles of industrial vending machines is the locker. Usually comprising of 10 or more small doors, the locker is a simple machine where a tool is placed behind an access-controlled door. A user must badge into the vending machine software, like CribMaster’s ATR. This is usually accessed by a computer screen on the vending machine, to be given access to an item. This style is great when you want to vend differently sized items in one machine, and work really well for bulk boxes of PPE, accessories or other small supplies.
Because of the simplicity of the technology, tool lockers are a great choice if you’re looking for an entry-level vending machine at an easy price point.
Coil Vending
The original vending machine will look familiar to what you see at a rest stop or office building. No surprises that it’s another of the most popular choices for single-item dispensing, and projected to maintain it’s popularity over the next 6 years. You’ll be confined to smaller items with a coil machine, and you’ll want ask your supplier about accessories to keep differently-sized items properly fitted into the rotating coils.
