Category: IQ Technology

Why Is Cloud Technology Indispensable for Seamless, Hassle-Free, and Effective Asset Management in Organizations?

Posted on by saravana

Why Is Cloud Technology Indispensable for Seamless - IDSVending.com

Evolution of Asset Management

Automated asset management solutions are no longer a thing of the future. Asset management tools have helped with data sharing, to a certain extent. It is cloud-based digital asset management technology that has created a collaborative “single source of truth” that is accessible by those who need access to it. It has also improved the extent of deployment across offices, plants, branches, business units or even geographic units across the globe.

iQ Technology, for example, drives cloud-based inventory and asset management. It contains modular software packages that suit the end requirement. The multiple software packages can be as straightforward as reporting and managing enterprise-wide inventory and asset management requirements to integrating with 3rd party systems. The modules are customizable for domain-specific regulations and material management requirements.

What does Asset Management on Cloud look like?

Asset Management becomes versatile and scalable when it moves to iQ technology. The ability to expand the scope and SKUs and a host of benefits like controlled accessibility, analytics, alerts and automation, decision support systems, and others creates limitless possibilities for any business. Despite its application versatility, cloud-based digital asset management shares a few common aspects. The basic building blocks are as below:

Asset Management - IDSVending.com
Whether the asset management application is for an office environment or a manufacturing line, the basic structure of any cloud-based system like iQ Technology looks the same. A sound asset management system must be easily configurable to meet the needs of different applications.

Another essential trait of an ideal cloud-based system is to have full-cycle capabilities. They should be capable of converting data from physical systems, like crates, tools, or equipment to digital data, through Bar Code readers, RFID scanners, or data entry kiosks. This is often the most critical part that most cloud-based systems cannot provide, as they provide just the software and cloud infrastructure. Without usable data from the physical to the digital realm, the entire system becomes useless.

What are the basic elements of iQ Technology’s asset management capabilities?

iQ Technology can deliver the best value if they help extract the most value from the organization’s assets. To achieve this, they need to address all the needs across the entire lifecycle of the asset.

 

  • Asset Storage – Capturing data about all aspects of asset storage, including the age of asset, inward traceability, outward traceability, and cost of holding, can help in critical decisions.
  • Asset Dispensing – The release of assets for usage must be easy to avoid the solution becoming a part of the problem. Easy dispensing can reduce hassles and improve efficiency. But control of access and trackability of dispensing is also critical.
  • Asset Collection – Collection of assets post its usage is critical to ensure availability for those in need. It can also help in preventing loss or theft. Collection can mark the asset for maintenance or recalibration before usage.
  • Asset Tracking – Tracking all assets to prevent loss or shrinkage. Asset tracking is essential to minimize “non-value-added time” like transit and idling.
  • Asset Costing – Allocating costs to every asset is critical for effective resource management. It can come in handy while maintaining books, allocating project costs, and maintaining books.
  • Asset Allocation – Ensuring that the assets are allocated to the right user is vital for accountability and responsible usage. Asset allocation also contributes to accurate project costing.
  • Asset Utilization – Calculating the utilization of assets in terms of time or cost per hour is critical to track asset efficiency and utility. It is an essential factor to justify returns on investment during asset purchase decisions.
  • Asset Maintenance – Marking assets for scheduled maintenance, repairs, upgrades, or recalibration will improve the usability of the asset and drive productivity.
  • Tracking Chain of Custody/Accountability – Establishing the chain of ownership can help understand asset usage, prevent asset hoarding, reduce chances of asset abuse, and a host of other benefits.

iQ Technology’s asset management - IDSVending.com

What are the benefits of iQ Technology on the cloud?

Asset management systems have several benefits, as discussed in the previous section. Cloud-based asset management solutions, like iQ Technology, have certain added advantages.

Cost: Cloud systems cost relatively less than on-premise or physical systems to implement. There is no need for upfront capital expenditure in setting up server infrastructure, communication systems, security tools, and other essential paraphernalia. However, for large enterprises, the cost of the cloud may equal or even exceed on-premise systems. The benefits, however, often far outweigh the costs.

Accessibility: Cloud systems are easily accessible from anywhere with internet connectivity and access privilege. This makes it easy to create a borderless business that can access data internationally.

Auditability: Unlike paper systems and most on-premise systems, it is easier to establish asset custody across factories, offices, and business units. This makes it easy to maintain the documentation required for compliance and auditing.

Scalability: Cloud systems have flexible packages that make them scalable. Businesses only have to pay based on the number of users or transactions they need. Adding users can be easily accomplished through a back-end control portal.

Flexibility: Cloud systems are flexible as users can be increased or decreased based on the requirement. This means businesses do not have to suffer sunk costs invested in infrastructure once the need is complete. A good example would be asset management when the project is finished in a construction zone.

Device Agnostic: Asset management solutions are accessed through web and mobile interfaces on the cloud. This makes it easy to access them from any device.

Summary

iQ Technology driven asset management has many benefits that make investing in it an easy decision, but the key to successful asset management lies in selecting the right partner. The partner needs to have proven success across all the blocks of asset management, including the digitalization of data and necessary hardware. IDS combines the power of cutting-edge hardware and powerful software to deliver this for you. To know more about how we can help your business, click here or call us at 1-866-881-0326.

The New and Improved iQ Technology: The Medical Package

Posted on by John Van Horn

Intelligent Dispensing Solutions assists customers to find better medical supply management solutions and improve their efficiency. One way in which this is done is with iQ Technology. This module-based software enables organizations to reduce inventory costs and increase productivity.

IDS offers five iQ Technology software packages to allow you to choose a solution that works best for your organization. The next package we will break down is the medical inventory control package. This package includes the same components of the Standard Package, plus the features you need for enterprise-wide inventory and asset management. 

In addition to all of the components that can be found in the Standard Package, the Medical Package includes vehicle management, custom checklists and biometric management. These additions make the Medical Package the most comprehensive medical supply management system that iQ Technology has to offer.

Vehicle management allows you to manage all of your dispensing equipment in one location. Instead of spending time walking around to every machine within your organization, you are able to manage your equipment and check the health of each machine from one location. Additionally, vehicle management gives you the capability to set limits on the number of products that can be accessed by a single user per day, eliminating hoarding and waste. This key feature saves you and your organization valuable time and money. 

In order to ensure all machines are being inspected according to the standards you set, the Medical Package includes a custom checklist feature. During each inspection, users are able to check off each step of the inspection in order to confirm it is fully complete and everything passes its inspection. Create a checklist based on your standards.

Finally, biometric management allows the machine to track who accessed what product, the number of products that were accessed and when the product was accessed. Additionally, biometrics can be carried over from your previous machines, so employees can jump into using it immediately, instead of setting every employee up with new credentials. 

No matter what industry you are in, iQ Technology vending machines can help you manage your medical inventory. To find out more, give us a call at 1-877-771-4446.

The New and Improved iQ Technology: The Standard Package

Posted on by John Van Horn

Intelligent Dispensing Solutions assists customers in their mission to find better ways to manage inventory and improve their efficiency. One way in which this is done is with iQ Technology sales control tool. This module-based software enables organizations to reduce inventory costs and increase productivity by processing real-time data captured from IDS’ hardware.

IDS offers five iQ Technology software packages to allow you to choose a solution that works best for your organization. The next package we will break down is our vending machine inventory management package, which includes all of the components of the Basic Package, plus the features you need for an enterprise-wide inventory and asset management solution that includes dispensing larger items via IDS’ Supply Lockers.

One of the key features included in the Standard Package is the Supply Room. This feature allows you to save time and money by managing inventory that you have on hand anytime and anywhere. You will no longer have to spend hours in your supply room taking inventory of products. Instead, simply access your entire supply room with the click of a button.

Another feature is API/Pre-Authorization. We understand that security is important to our customers. That is why our API/Pre-Authorization feature allows customers to connect directly to their existing employee management system. Under this, information remains confidential by ensuring sensitive employee information is not stored within the iQ Technology platform.

Like the Basic Package, the Standard Package offers extensive reporting that features real-time, comprehensive sales control tools for managers. These reports eliminate the need for timely manual inventory audits, reduce shrinkage and waste and increase employee productivity.

No matter what industry you are in, iQ Technology can help you manage your inventory. To find out more about our vending machine packages with iQ technology, give us a call at 1-877-771-4446.

The New and Improved iQ Technology: The Basic Package

Posted on by John Van Horn

Intelligent Dispensing Solutions assists customers in their mission to find better ways to control inventory levels and improve their efficiency. One smart inventory management solution is with iQ Technology vending machine package. This module-based software enables organizations to reduce inventory costs and increase productivity by processing real-time data captured from IDS’ hardware.

IDS offers five iQ Technology vending machine packages to allow you to choose a solution that works best for your organization. The first package we will break down is the Basic Package, which includes the essential capabilities to streamline inventory and asset management within your organization.

iQ Technology offers a reporting system that features real-time, comprehensive insights for managers. These reports eliminate the need for timely manual inventory audits, reduce shrinkage and waste and increase employee productivity. Additionally, reports reduce the risk of keeping expired products within machines. 

The Basic package gives you the ability to put restrictions on certain products. For example, restrictions can be put in place for employees, departments or job functions to access the products they need to perform their job. You can also ensure employees are not wasting products by only allowing a certain number of products to be accessed by employees. This feature helps employers cut down on product waste and improve their inventory level control.

IDS machines with iQ Technology feature alerts that will allow managers to be in the know about the health of their hardware. These inventory alerts, which can be sent to multiple people, include:

  • Low stock in the machine
  • A product that will be expiring soon
  • Lack of internet connection
  • Open door on the machine
  • Item-specific dispenses

Keep track of your asset inventory through iQ Technology smart inventory management solution.

No matter what industry you are in, iQ Technology can help you manage your inventory. To find out more about this iQ technology vending machine package, give us a call at 1-877-771-4446.

The New and Improved iQ Technology: The Basic Package

Posted on by John Van Horn

Intelligent Dispensing Solutions assists customers in their mission to find better ways to manage inventory and improve their efficiency. One way in which this is done is by the iQ Technology smart inventory solution. This module-based software enables organizations to reduce inventory costs and increase productivity by processing real-time data captured from IDS’ hardware.

IDS offers five iQ Technology vending and distribution software packages to allow you to choose a solution that works best for your organization. The first package we will break down is the Basic Package, which includes the essential capabilities to streamline inventory and asset management within your organization.

iQ Technology offers a reporting system that features real-time, comprehensive insights for managers. iQ vending and distribution reports eliminate the need for timely manual inventory audits, reduce shrinkage and waste and increase employee productivity. Additionally, reports reduce the risk of keeping expired products within machines. 

The Basic package gives you the ability to put restrictions on certain products. For example, restrictions can be put in place for employees, departments or job functions to access the products they need to perform their job. You can also ensure employees are not wasting products by only allowing a certain number of products to be accessed by employees. This feature helps employers cut down on product waste. 

IDS machines with iQ Technology feature alerts that will allow managers to be in the know about the health of their hardware. These inventory alerts, which can be sent to multiple people, include:

  • Low stock in the machine
  • A product that will be expiring soon
  • Lack of internet connection
  • Open door on the machine
  • Item-specific dispenses

Keep track of your asset inventory through iQ Technology.

No matter what industry you are in, iQ Technology can help you manage your inventory. To find out more about our iQ technology vending and distribution, give us a call at 1-877-771-4446.

Vending Machines Aren’t Just for Snacks

Posted on by John Van Horn

                  It is most common for people to associate vending machines as only serving food and drinks. However, more and more we are seeing vending machines that have a variety of uses besides dispensing food. Businesses are understanding the value of convenience and the ease with which products can be stored and delivered in non-food vending machines. Vending machines also provide a secure location for items and easy tracking and inventory information.

                  Companies are learning that vending machines help them get their products in front of their possible customers sooner. A recent Small Business Trends article titled “Vending Machines Aren’t Just for Snacks Anymore” noted that companies are selling jackets and headphones out of electronics vending machines in airports. Vending machines help companies go to their customers rather than on relying their customers coming to them. In addition to airports, schools and universities are becoming popular places to place non-traditional vending machines.  These machines can help travelers that are missing something they want for their trip or a student who needs a piece of technology for class.  Fitness centers are also great places to reach a target market through automated dispensing. Just like in traditional snack vending where location is important and a business profits when they can take their product to where people interested in their product already are.

iVendTech Satellite Machine

                  Organizations are also learning how vending machines are efficient and cost effective ways to get necessary supplies to their own employees. Businesses can use vending machines to track supplies, so they know exactly who is taking the supplies, and can limit how many workers can take. Employees can also take supplies 24/7 and do not need to wait on anyone else to access what they need. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions had been very successful helping hospitals dispense and sort their scrubs and other medical supplies. IDS also has helped fire departments track and dispense emergency supplies. Improved inventory management with vending machines is helping organizations save money and better serve their workers.

             We will let other companies get customers snacks and drink. We are proud to be on the cutting edge of automated inventory management systems helping businesses save time and money. Helping companies develop automated retail plans to reach their target market is important to us. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions is excited about the future of vending and the growing awareness and opportunities to vend non-food items. Do you have an idea of something you would like to vend but need helping making it happen? Contact us today at 1-877-771-4446. We would love to learn how we can serve you!

The Value of Saving Time

Posted on by John Van Horn

The end of the year is a good time to look back and evaluate how it went. Years can be broken up into financial quarters, which can be broken up into weeks and then into business days. Spending moments during the day doing unnecessary tasks can snowball into to large amount of wasted time over the year. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions works to save you time, which can save you money and add value to your business.

IDS has tools to help companies eliminate time and money waste by tracking supplies, securely dispensing materials and reducing administrative costs. By eliminating tedious time consuming work IDS products give you more time to spend working on more important parts of your businesss. We take pride in our asset management systems and have seen them help many different types of businesses. Contact us to find out how we can help you save time and money for your business.

How iQ Technology Keeps Your Inventory Safe

Posted on by John Van Horn

 

Discover the power of iQ Technology, the innovative inventory and tracking software system used by all IDS equipment!

The world as we know it is changing every day. Machines are being equipped with technologies our own parents could have only dreamed of – and controlled dispensing equipment is is no exception. Very few platforms can combine all of the operations of a supply room from secure, self-service access to supplies for employees to real-time inventory visibility and full accountability for management, like like iQ technology does. This inventory software system offers countless benefits both to company management and its employees. Managers have access to the information they need at their fingertips and customers customers enjoy a more convenient, personalized experience.

iQ Technology has the potential to transform your organization one supply at a time. You inventories are now secure and easily monitored, as our software effortlessly accounts for all goods dispensed with up-to-the-minute accuracy. Say goodbye to the overwhelming, time intensive task of manual inventory counts from your supply closet: iQ Technology has arrived to optimize and streamline your inventory management process.

How do these inventory tracking vending machines and lockers work, you ask? By combining these key features into one, easy-to-use system:

  1. Cloud-Based Brain:   iQ Technology is a web-based software system, so you can manage your dispensing machines from any operating system and/or mobile device! You now have 24/7 access to your data: all you need is an internet connection.
  2. Multi-Machine Management: With iQ Technology, you can now track and manage as many machines as you’d like! No matter where your machines may be located, you can now pull reports, see real-time inventory, generate pick lists and more.
  3. Secure Transactions: All information and transactions are 100% encrypted: no credit card data is stored at any time in the machine, ensuring your customer’s safety and removing your liability
  4. Real-Time inventory Views: Real-time dispensing info would be impressive enough, but iQ Technology takes it a step further: you can also track inventory in your supply rooms and delivery trucks! That means your complete product chain can be tracked for reordering and, in the case of perishable products, expiration status. iQ Technology is truly a 360 degree solution!
  5. Alerts: Notifications about machine info can be send via email, pager, or mobile device to let you know about expiring products, power loss, and more.
  6. Powerful Reporting: iQ Technology’s impressive reporting abilities are diverse and easy to use. Usage reports, re-stock lists, inventory position and additional management reports can be generated and printed online.

 

Want to learn more about iQ Technology and how it can transform the way YOU do business? Contact IDS today.

What Can You Store in an IDS 12-Door Locker?

Posted on by John Van Horn

The IDS 12-door Locker is a unique dispensing apparatus, conceptually similar to a vending machine while providing the next level of service: dispensing larger inventory like laptops, backpacks, and kits. This system is a more efficient way of tracking inventory usage, and provides another level of security for these items.

Some additional features of the locker include optional LED lighting to illuminate your offerings, optional re-charging adaptors for stored tech items, and personalization options (i.e. choose a single color for your machine, or customize the locker with your logo and colors! Speak to a representative about this option).

This machine is incredibly versatile! Here are some of the ways to use this supply locker and the types of items that you can store that could benefit your company.

 

HOTELS:

  • Blankets
  • Games
  • Breast pumps
  • Blenders / Small Kitchen Appliances
  • Books

SCHOOLS:

  • Laptops
  • Notebooks
  • Tablets
  • Projectors
  • Textbooks
  • Uniforms

HOSPITALS:

  • Med Kits
  • AEDs
  • BioHazard suits
  • Blankets
  • Pillows
  • Bedpans
 OFFICES:

  • Laptops
  • Equipment
  • Medical Kits
  • Kitchen Appliances
  • Recreational gear (games, video game equipment, ping-pong rackets)

RESTAURANTS:

  • Flatware sets
  • Medical Kits
  • AEDs
  • Centerpieces
  • Coloring books / Crayons

BEAUTY PARLORS:

  • Nail drying kits
  • Waxing kits
  • Spa gear
  • Bathing suits
  • Robes
  • Haircut capes

The possibilities are truly endless! Speak to a representative today to learn how a IDS 12-door Locker can benefit your business today. We offer financing options as well as leasing opportunities, so please be in touch with us to make this a reality for your employees and customers. Strongly considering the IDS 12-door Locker? Check out the technical specs this locker requires onthis page.

iVendTech – How a Vending Machine In Your Office Can Benefit Business Travelers

Posted on by John Van Horn

IDS Office Supply System is the answer to a simple desire of many businesses: We want to vend & track supplies for our employees. It proves there are no limits to intelligent dispensing. Now everything from ballpoint pens to keyboards can be dispensed from this versatile machine.

An IDS office supply vending machine offers many benefits like the ability to place products where they are needed 24/7 while reducing or in some cases eliminating office supply cabinets and drawers. Everything is secure and trackable letting you concentrate on your core business and not on keeping track of your supplies.

An employee arrives at an office that is not their home office and is in need of IT peripherals to accomplish their work. Examples might be a laptop power supply or security dongle. An on-demand electronics vending machine would allow the user to procure the item quickly.

An Employee can go to the machine and input their employee ID or swipe their ID card at the machine to initiate a dispensing session. The machine then sends ID/PIN to the server for authentication and restriction information is retrieved from the database (restriction information is based on departmental limits or other criteria as desired). If the employee is validated the dispensing session continues, otherwise the dispensing session terminates.

Tracking of products is easy. Transaction information is sent to the database including: time and date, account, site, machine, product(s) dispensed, and employee name or ID.

For office supplies and IT management we highly recommend that you check out the iVendTech site and features.