Selecting a Vending Machine

Once, it has been decided to start a vending business, it is important that we research and understand what we want in a vending machine. It is very important that we know exactly what we need from a vending machine and thus should look for the best features.

New vending operators often have to listen to different resources and as a result get confused. This article aims at clearing up the questions of new vending operators.
If you are looking for a good vending machine to start your business with, then go for QUALITY over price. You might get lured into purchasing cheaply priced vending machines but in a true sense, you could end up losing money should you have to get them repaired and frequently serviced. More importantly, you will lose time maintaining them and will never be able to give your clients the service they look forward to.

Planet Antares is the number one and the most desirable choice for new vendors for more than one reason. Planet Antares machines are reliable, durable, come with a wide range of advanced features and not only this, but you can save a lot of money by owning them as they do not require a lot of maintenance.

Planet Antares uses the latest technology in their components and these machines come with bill validators, currency changers and several other features. Planet Antares ensures the best value for your money as far as equipment is concerned. Besides the equipment, Planet Antares provides personal coaching and the necessary assistance in setting up your vending business.

When it comes to pricing, Planet Antares offers competitive prices for outstanding quality and features. A cheaper model for a vending business may seem attractive at the start but you can be sure that its quality that pays off in the long run.

To sum up the features of a quality vending machine, here are some of the key points to look for:

• Compare the Quality and Features of vending machines

• Research the history of vending machine manufacturers

• Check out the durability factor in the machine

• Confirm that the machine is made using the latest state-of-the-art technology

• How often does the machine need service

• Look for a dependable brand like Planet Antares

DEX IN VENDING OPERATIONS

DEX is an acronym which stands for Digital EXchange. It is a Uniform Code Standard which was originally created for the grocery industry. The DEX standard was chosen as the foundation for the Vending Industry Data Transfer Standard (VIDTS) in 1990, when the Vending Industry came together with NAMA to create a communication standard to allow Vending Machines to communicate their transaction information to Handheld computers. The data which is defined includes, among others:
• Cash Meter sales
• Vend Count by column
• Price set for each column
• Value of Coin in the Coin box
• Value of Bills in the bill stacker
The prime reason of using standard DEX technology in the vending operations is better cash management. It helps in tamper proof cash audit, same day cash settlement, provides change fund audit data, cash accountability report, end of day report. This technology helps you sell or acquire new accounts. It can very well be kept under the hidden benefits of DEX. The operators who can demonstrate electronic management of machines will be rendered as more trust worthy. It leads to the vendor’s ability to show historical sales by item. The satisfaction of delivering the best services is derived out of it. With DEX you can acquire the merchandising data. With its usage the sales can be increased by up to 25%.
Some of the long term benefits of adopting DEX can be mentioned as follows:
• Sets the foundation for wireless or online data.
• All wireless systems will be built on item level and DEX.
• Wide area polling, cash card payments need DEX/ item level.
• NAMA estimates average routes are $5500/wk.
• Pre kitting can give you $10000 per week routes.
• Truck estimate routes can give you $9000 routes.
For those Planet Antares vending operators who were hesitant to adopt DEX in their vending operations, the technology has removed doubts and proved as a key to intelligent vending.

Bill Acceptors In Vending Machines

Bill acceptors were developed in the late 1960’s to make the selling sodas and candy bars from the vending machine much easier. They would accept the money that the customer placed in the machine, for the purchase of product. Bill acceptors are used in vending machines such as those provided by Antares Corporation. Also known as bill validators or bill acceptors, paper currency detectors scan pliant currency using optical and magnetic sensors. Upon validation, the bill validator will inform the vending machine controller (VMC) or other host device of a credit via a parallel or serial interface. Wrinkled or creased bills can cause these machines to reject the bills.

There are some problems that your Planet Antares vending machine can face with the bill acceptor, so it’s important that you keep a check on that. The most major problem is poor acceptance. This is because the magnetic reader heads become worn and are unable to read the bills. You can prevent this problem with your Antares vending machine by keeping the bill acceptor clean using Qtips and alcohol. If the bill acceptor is taken in bills without returning change that means that the magnetic heads are so worn that you will have to send in the bill acceptor for servicing. If the acceptor is not pulling in bills, that is caused by a bad front sensor.

A Planet Antares vending operator needs to pay an emphasis on the regular cleaning of the bill acceptors particularly the bill paths, sensors and belts. These devices were extremely susceptible to failures and jamming in the past due to folded or damaged notes. But they have been improved quite substantially in the recent years with the introduction of features such as automatic jam ejection, automatically calibrating sensors, and in order to remove contaminants from the machines, cleaning cards are available.

In order to keep the smooth functioning of the bill acceptors, proper maintenance of the equipment is essential for the vending business. As its inability to work properly will not only affect the venders but the customers as well leading to frustration steering them away from the use of the vending machines next time.

Reluctance Against The Vending Business

Vending business is climbing the success ladder at its own pace. Many investors in the business have tasted success and have also expanded their short term vended business into full time. The benefits that this business ensures have convinced many to join this all cash business league and have lead to increasing competition in the market place.

Although success stories in the vending business have been really high, few are reluctant to expand it. Undoubtedly the vending business will continue to remain challenging as introduction of new techniques and technologies is common. The investors need to adapt these changes in order to survive the ever increasing competition.

Every business has its share of ups and downs. But the efforts of the business man make it working and profitable. Vending business, indubitably, is quite easy to start and operate until it is part time or short term business. As the business expands it expects more investment of time as well as money. No business can achieve growth until and unless it is fed with harder efforts.

With flourished business technology keeps flourishing and many operators can not make the judicious use of the advanced technology or see problem in understanding their application to their business. In such cases they feel quitting the business or sell it to some other prospective buyer. But it is not that difficult a job as it seems, with Planet Antares programs you can very well adjust with the changing demands and can ask for help anytime.

For few the vending business might have turned into less profitable business but that depends on the personal efforts taken by the operator to make his business successful. Simply owning the machines and placing them is all that a vender has to do. A vender can not turn away of his responsibilities.

If you find it difficult to understand the markets you are serving, assistance by Planet Antares is with you any time you want. Understanding your market makes the operation very easy. Feel easy while contacting the Planet Antares support system.

Willingness and diligence can make the most difficult things possible. A bit of attention and the sense of responsibility towards your business will take you places.

CONTROL CASH IN PLANET ANTARES VENDING BUSINESS

Being the owner of the planet Antares vending machines, you are the one who will enjoy the complete share of profit and use it as your own wish. Handling the cash operations is one of the biggest benefits with Planet Antares. Controlling cash provides you the opportunity to enjoy with your family with the money you earn. For people who are running this business as part time, earning adds to their income from their previous jobs and helps to lead a luxurious lifestyle.

Planet Antares does not require the operator’s physical presence with the machines, they just need to go and collect the cash which is dropped into the machines. The cashless payment system has made it even more happening in the market place. This technology has gained positive response by all vending operators and they agree that this cash payment system will rule in the future. It has given a high to e- commerce and m-commerce in the economy. Cashless technology enhance the sales of the vending business and improves transaction speed and customer loyalty and satisfaction. This technology comes with advantages for not only the consumers but for the operators as well. The vending consumer will enjoy the faster transaction speed whereas the operator will have the luxury of better cash management and increased average purchases as being the time period where everyone is making use of the plastic money for their convenience. It helps them to buy whenever they want irrespective of the fact if they are carrying any paper money or not.

Planet Antares refreshment centers are a great way to earn an impressive income with little overhead. All those cash related problems that infect a business does not exist in the Planet Antares vending business as there are no bad checks, credit risks, account receivables and the like. American families have been significantly alleviated by this easy to earn cash business and gaining tax advantages.

Just like hundred thousands of families, you can also benefit from this $ 40 billion industry.

Healthy Vending Programs Offers By Planet Antares

Looking at the way Americans eat today is not really health-oriented. However, recent studies and published surveys have made the common public more conscious about their diet and eating habits. This trend towards healthier eating habits has brought down the popularity of traditional snack food and drinks from vending machines. This is mostly common in schools and employee break rooms where soft drinks, candy and fried snacks are being replaced by bottled water, juices and low fat snacks.

If you are running a Planet Antares vending business, you can provide a healthy vending program to customers along with the regular items in your menu. This will give them greater variety to choose from. The demand for healthy snacks is rising at a fast pace. Almost everyone is health conscious and wants to eat nutritious food. Americans are facing obesity as a big issue and with the high number of obese people in the country; this problem is not going away soon.

Healthier versions of traditional snacks are also being introduced in the market by many manufacturers, such as crème filled sandwich cookies and fried cheese snacks. As the demand for healthy products increases, companies are manufacturing more and healthier food items. Several locations demand only healthy foods in their vending machines. Planet Antares vending machines can easily cater to the needs of such locations.

In spite of the growing interest in healthy vending options, the availability and cost of healthy food items can be quite difficult. Usually, organic and low fat items cost twice as much as the conventional products. This is a major deterrent for most vending operators who avoid keeping healthy food items in their vending machines. They feel that they will lose business by offering healthy products alone. As a Planet Antares vending operator, you must offer healthy items to cater to their growing demand.

A healthy program can be successful in your Planet Antares vending business if the vending operators and packages goods supplier work in cooperation. Start off by placing a few of the products in your vending machines, just to see how they sell. Make sure that there is a lot of demand for such items in the chosen locations. By placing healthy products in your vending machines, you will recognize a change in the desires of people and hence, gain their loyalty towards your products.

Management Software For Planet Antares Vending

At different stages, the vending operations can differ in various aspects. It may be at the beginning, growing, stagnant or declining stage. Vending management software offers an effective tool for improvement for all these stages.

For many years, industry specific software systems have been available and keep offering more benefits with technological advancements. For Planet Antares vending operators who want to grow, management software is a tool that will keep the company organized and allow it to operate efficiently.

However, most vending operators are facing the challenge of making time to learn the functions of the software systems. Most of them do not have the resources to allocate an employee for studying and implementing software.

Like any management tool, software requires a significant investment. This forces many vending operators to delay the implementation of this tool. In time, all sensible and forward looking operators will realize that they stand to lose by doing so.

A review of the major software packages revealed that many of these packages have immense benefits that will not turn obsolete. Upgrades will be possible in very little time and most of the work will be handled by the software provider.

The development and establishment of the DEX protocol has been a great development in recent years. It is the electronic data standard that will enable Planet Antares vending machines to report to management software. Most of the vending specific software systems will allow operators to use DEX.

Category management is a system that has many benefits including simplification of product selection at the route and warehouse levels, which will give management more control over individual machine menu. It may not be easy to predict future trends but a software system that offers comprehensive package of management tools will definitely be a worthwhile investment for your Planet Antares vending business.