Author: John Van Horn

Smart Subway Vending Machines

Posted on by John Van Horn

If you have ever traveled or lived in New York City, you have most likely experienced the city’s famous subway system. The MTA, the organization responsible for public transportation in New York, is constantly trying to come up with ways to improve commuting for the millions of people that use the subway system daily.

Since 1993, commuters have used custom vending machines to purchase a plastic or paper MetroCard in order to ride the subway. Until now, scanning credit cards and debit cards in the machine or paying with cash and coin were the only options available to pay for your MetroCard.  The MTA is now testing a new method of payment in which customers are able to press their card against a Smart Card reader on the machine and wirelessly. This form of credit card scanning has been used in retail stores for a while now, but the technology is still widely unused due to concerns about credit card security and slow adaptation by credit card companies and consumers.

Intelligent Dispensing Solutions sees this version of credit card payment slowly replacing traditional credit card scanners because of its ease and ability to process thousands of vending transactions without any physical wear on the machine.

Work Out Convenience

Posted on by John Van Horn

Staying in shape requires a lot of dedication and hard work, as well as the right gear and equipment. Many of us join gyms in order to gain access to all of the equipment and facilities we need to practice our favorite sports or perform our exercise routines. In addition to having all of the right equipment at the gym, we often require proper gear and clothing to work out comfortably, safely and stylishly.

Companies such as Speedo have capitalized on this very need by creating custom Speedo vending machines that are branded with their logos and graphics and vend everything from swimming goggles to swimwear and flip flop sandals. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions has the ability to create these custom Speedo vending machines that can vend almost any product you would need to exercise at the gym.

Our machines use advanced technology to vend almost any items in a machine that is perfect for your facility. From what the machine vends to how it looks and functions, we will work with you to create a profitable vending solution. Since most gyms and workout facilities function with a membership program for customers, we can design a machine that utilizes those memberships as methods of payment so patrons won’t have to be carrying cash or cards with them during their workout to use the machine.

Retail Vending Technologies

Posted on by John Van Horn

Vending machines are much more versatile than they were in the past. With new technologies that are becoming more widespread and compact, vending services are evolving from traditional snack and drink vending with coin payment systems to sophisticated POS, or point of sale, systems and retail vending machines that create new interaction, marketing and sales opportunities for businesses. This is especially true in the retail industry, where traditional brick-and-mortar stores are trying to find more ways to connect with digitally-connected customers and online e-commerce sites are attempting to create physical footprints and ways to interact with customers in tangible ways.

A technology that is helping this process along is the use of QR, short for Quick Response, codes. These matrix bar-codes can already be found on anything from business cards to billboards and even on the packages of many items sold in vending machines. For retailers, these QR code vending machines give consumers with smart-phones an easy opportunity to connect with their websites, send text messages to enter contests, or even contact vending machine operators about service issues or questions.

By scanning the code with their phones, customers are immediately directed to take an action with their phone and these actions are often simple and very valuable to businesses. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions, as a vending machine manufacturer is always looking for new and innovative ways to incorporate these technologies to help your vending business.

Freshly Fried French Fry Machine

Posted on by John Van Horn

The sight or smell of french fries for most people starts their mouths salivating at the thought of the warm, salty, fried taste of these pieces of potato perfection. A custom vending machine manufacturer in Belgium has designed Belgium’s first frite, or French fry, vending machine that uses beef fat to fry the fries.

For €2.50, french fry fans can enjoy a hot, freshly fried cup of frites that are served with a fork, salt and your choice of ketchup or mayonnaise. While this isn’t the first machine to manufacture fries for customers on the go, this is the first one that uses beef tallow to create what many fry fanatics claim is ingredient that creates the most delicious french fries. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions, and most of you are probably thinking the same thing, wouldn’t mind one of these in our offices!

Belgium is the historical birthplace of this world-wide snack phenomenon and claims to produce the best fries anywhere in the world. A Belgian journalist claimed that a family manuscript from 1781 describes consuming deep-fried potatoes prior to 1680. Since then, fries have become a staple for fast food restaurants and the ideal pair for many traditional and favorite dishes of diners around the globe.

Even in the US, french fries have a lengthy history with records of Thomas Jefferson enjoying “potatoes served in the French manner” at the White House in 1802.

30-Year-Old Custom Vending Machine

Posted on by John Van Horn

To most of our readers, it is not a secret that Japan is home to many of the world’s greatest and oddest vending machines. With over 5 million machines currently operating in the country, there are bound to be interesting innovations and unique machines.

Custom vending machines usually incorporate cutting-edge new technology or new mechanisms that allow them to do things your average vending machine would not be able to. Sometimes though, the simplest solutions are the best and a great idea is all you need to make something average stand out.

A very popular Japanese dish is curry and rice. This isn’t something your average snack machine could vend, but a small, red machine in a vending machine establishment in Japan dispenses hot servings of ready-to-eat curry and rice. The interesting thing about it is that this great vending “innovation” has been operating for almost 30 years!

The Japanese curry and rice vending machine serves vacuum-sealed packages of curry and rice that are kept warm inside the machine and the machine is operated by the man that personally grows the rice used in the machine. To ensure its freshness, the operator replaces the rice in this Japanese dispenser several times per day. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions applauds this vending entrepreneur for his commitment to delivering a unique and quality product!

Earning Your Vending Treat

Posted on by John Van Horn

There have been a lot of new marketing campaigns that feature custom vending machines lately. The latest entry into the vending-for-marketing game is Strongbow, an English cider company. Strongbow’s new campaign, entitled “Earn It.” is all about earning your tasty beverage. The campaign focuses on people performing difficult tasks and competing in difficult sporting events, such as tough mudder competitions, cricket, football and stand up comedy.

To translate this sense of competition and the requirement of earning your can of cider to their vending machine, Strongbow created an interactive machine that uses kinetic monitoring systems to track users’ movements as they aim their bow and arrows at a target down a field on the screen. The machine was placed in one of the UK’s busiest train stations and attracted a large number of participants that often were so excited about the motion-tracking technology or hitting the target with their virtual arrow that they forgot to pick up their prize: a free can of Strongbow.

Kinetic software and motion-tracking technology has become popular with a lot of consumer products within recent years. Video game systems have incorporated the technology and made it a fairly common thing in many households. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions has seen some pretty great uses of this technology in interactive vending machines lately and is excited to see what is next!

Last-Minute Makeup Machine

Posted on by John Van Horn

Custom Vending MachinesYou’ve made it through the airport’s security, miraculously arrived at your gate on time, and even have enough spare time to enjoy your victory with some relaxing. After visiting the nearest cafe for the largest container of coffee they can legally sell, you rummage through your carry-on bag to triple-check that you have everything you need.

While searching for your favorite magazine, you start noticing all the things you forgot to pack in your early-morning rush! Luckily, airports are well-equipped with custom vending machines that stock just about everything you could need on your flight.

Recently, San Francisco cosmetics company, Benefit, launched a new vending machine to help travelers that grabbed everything but their lipstick, eye-liner or almost anything else you’d find in a makeup bag. Their new “Glam Up & Away” machines have makeup on-the-go available at JFK airport and airports in Austin and Las Vegas. These beautifully bright-pink makeup vending machines vend 30 of their most popular products to help travelers look their best.

These machines are a great blend of creative design, marketing gimmick and very useful products!

Have you seen any creative vending machines lately? Intelligent Dispensing Solutions is always on the lookout for new and innovative uses of vending technology!

Instant Vending Satisfaction

Posted on by John Van Horn

Vending MachinesNot too long ago, facial recognition by machines and computers was something that only existed in sci-fi movies and laboratories. Now, facial recognition software is being integrated into personal computers, communication devices, security systems, retail stores, and even vending machines!

A coffee company named Douwe Egberts set up a custom vending machine in the O.R. Tambo International Airport in South Africa that dispensed coffee for exhausted travelers. Using facial recognition software, the machine was able to detect when a potential customer yawned in front of the machine and automatically dispensed a hot cup of Douwe Egberts coffee.

Now that’s instant satisfaction! Being able to incorporate the latest technological innovations into vending machines is what helps the industry evolve and stay relevant and interesting. While this particular application of facial recognition software was used as a marketing gimmick, the same technology could be used in traditional vending machines to recognize customers and make suggestions based on previous purchases, greet them with a custom message or interface, or give them access to a specialized facial recognition vending machine for medical supplies or other inventories.

Check out the video posted by the coffee company on YouTube, demonstrating their solution to red-eye flights! Make sure to contact us at IntelligentDispensingSolutions.com with any custom vending machine ideas!

New Report Examines the Life of a Vending Machine

Posted on by John Van Horn

Intelligent Dispensing SolutionsNo matter what you do or where you live, chances are you use a vending machine multiple times a week (or even multiple times a day!). While we all love our respective vending units, chances are we don’t often think about the creation and general lifecycles or how long of these vending machines that we depend on almost daily last. With this in mind, the folks over at The Motley Fool recently posted a new report titled “The Life of a Vending Machine,” which examines the resources that go into our favorite custom vending machines.

The article is accompanied by a video interview with Coinstar CEO Scott Di Valerio, which can be seen below. For those not in the know, Coinstar is one of the biggest names in the dispensing industry, as their coin-collecting machines have given way to the Redbox and Rubi devices that are used by customers everywhere. The interview provides valuable insight on the ever-changing nature of retail, and how the initially high investment of custom vending machines can eventually give way to big profits in today’s market.

If you’re feeling inspired by Coinstar’s success, why not start your own story? Our vending machine manufacturers are ready to build a product that will take your business to new heights. Talk to us today.

Custom Vending Machines for Summer Boardwalks

Posted on by John Van Horn

Intelligent Dispensing SolutionsSummer has made its official start as of last weekend, and now is a better time than ever to make a refrigerated vending machine a part of your business.While just about any type of vending machine will do well when surrounded by customers soaking up the sun, your vending unit will do especially well if you have the luxury of being near a beach area. Beach boardwalks are always full of exciting attractions, so why not make your beach vending machine one of the most alluring?

Intelligent Dispensing Solutions prides itself on providing near-endless possibilities, and that goes double if you’re lucky enough to operate on a boardwalk. While the thought of a “beach boardwalk vending machine” instantly conjures up imagines of classic drink and snack machines, it could be so much more. Think of the products that beach-goers typically go after, like summer clothing, goggles, float devices, and sand toys. While these goods might have never been associated with beach vending machines in the past, we can help you vend them automatically to all types of customer bases!

All types of people plan on hitting the beach this summer seeking the most fun experiences of the season. With the help of our beach boardwalk vending machines, you can provide service on the beach like never before!