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Vending Items Theft

July 15th, 2010

An advert for an insurance company in Australia has been banned. The advert shows Sam Thaiday, an Australian rugby player shaking a vending machine which results in lots of products falling out. The Australian Advertising Standards Board banned the ad as they say that it depicts theft, as the rugby player may have paid for one or two items- but certainly not all the items that came out of the machine.

As a vending operator we have machines located on many different sites, including schools, leisure centres, offices and factories. Theft is something that does concern us, but has happened very rarely since we have been in business. This could be the relationships that we have with our customers or that most people are very honest: in the past we have been told if the machine is vending items free of charge or if an operator has accidentally left a door open. While watching the Australian ad, what concerned me the most wasn’t the theft was the rugby player pushing the machine. As mentioned in other blogs, vending machines are incredibly heavy pieces of equipment. Showing someone pushing against one is quite irresponsible- if that machine falls it could lead to serious injuries or even death.

Written by: Katie from WestWays

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Posted by linda

 

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Interesting Blog

April 28th, 2010

On my travels through the internet looking and researching about vending machine’s and coffee I have found this rather interesting blog about vending machine history. It mainly focuses on American vending machine history, but it’s still a good read!

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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Posted by linda

 

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Vending Machine Servicing

April 28th, 2010

As well as supplying Kenco coffee products and vending machines WestWays also service vending equipment. It may be equipment that a company has owned for a long time and requires an engineer to fix or it could be something bought privately that needs some work and a service on it. We may not have sold the equipment or supplied the stock- but that doesn’t stop our engineers being able to work on your equipment.

Our engineers are fully trained to service all the major manufactures vending machines including Crane, Coffetek, Azkoyen and Kenco and they know most coffee machines, snack machines and can machines. Not only are they vending engineers but they are actual engineers- if something electrical is broken or needs modifying they are there with their trusty tool kits! One of our engineers loves his Blackberry phone so much that he has taken it apart, cleaned and repaired it himself many times: we can’t believe its still going after all these years (not that we would recommend this as  it may invalidate warranties!!). They will endeavour to fix anything that is put in front of them, if it’s a machine that they have not come across before we will endeavour to obtain a technical manual and the manufaturers contact details.

As well as wanting all your servicing work, WestWays also believe in charging fairly. We have had to use other service companies in the past for holiday cover and we where shocked at how they charged us. One company charged from the time the engineer switched off his engine to the time he turned it back on again, another for the time that the engineer waited on the premises for someone to show him where the  machine is. WestWays do not charge like this: we allow waiting time for the engineer and only charge from when he starts work on the equipment to when he stops. Because of this the engineers have built a good rapport with our customers; as they are on the road all the day they may stop in a cafe on site to have a drink or some lunch, or may stretch their legs looking around retail premises.

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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Posted by linda

 

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New Product Line!!

April 23rd, 2010

We, at WestWays Towers, are rather excited about a new product launch. We have known it was coming for a while but we finally have Milka bars from Kraft to put into our vending machines dotted around Kent, Sussex and Surrey!!

Milka is distinctive with its lilac-colour packaging. It has a smooth and creamy taste which is accredited to the alpine milk that comes from the Swiss alps. It has a distinctive taste which you will always remember, and if you have never had it then you really are missing out!! 

You may have seen the advertising TV campaign for Milka, if not here it is  my favourite is the cow-tractor. Milka has been around for ages, but the product has been relaunched with new 45g size bars, which we are selling through our machines. There are also different varities of bars such Milka-Daim, Milka Hazlenut, Milka Happy Cows (my fave- milk and white chocolate) and Milka chocolate cream.   

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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Posted by linda

 

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DIY Self-Fill or Operated?

April 13th, 2010

We at WestWays Vending aim to be flexible to all our lovely customers needs. We offer an operated service and also a self-fill service on our machines.

We have many different machines from you to choose from. We have (deep breath here!) Kenco coffee machines, in-cup vending machines, fresh ingrediant beverage machines, Cadbury snack machines, unbranded snack machines, small snack machines which you can have a coffee machine on top of, Coca Cola cold drink machines, Lucozade drinks machines, unbranded can machines which can vend bottles or cans (or both!) and combination machines (which are half snack and half cold drink) and probably a lot more that I have forgotten!!

Operated Service

With an operated service we take control of everything. One of our lovely operators will visit on a schedule determined on the usage of the machine. The operator will fill the machine, collect money (if it is not a ‘free vend’ machine) and clean the machine.

Mike, our operations manager will keep a close eye on products that are selling on the machine- if there are product lines that aren’t selling then he takes them out and if there are products that are selling out then he puts more in. It’s a very complicated science. But, in essence it means that we take all the stress of worrying about stock, cash handling, cleaning and all those bits and leaves you to concentrate on other parts of your business.

Self Fill

However, if you want to have close control over your vending machines – maybe you have catering staff or you are looking to add revenue to your business by charging your customers. For example, one of our sell fill customers is a children’s soft play centre- we installed a snack machine from them and they order snacks for it every week. The site have a person responsible for the snack machine to ensure that it is cleaned and filled regularly. They are used to handling food items so storing and rotating stock is no problem for them.

Another of our customers who likes to self fill is a plumbers merchant- we installed a Darenth Style 5 for them to enable the customer to give out free drinks to his customer. By using self fill he can keep an eye on how many free drinks he is giving out enabling him to keep his costs low.

Or maybe, you would like both. We have have a few customers which we operate and the customer self-fills other machines on site- for example you may want to offer your staff drinks on an operated service but you may want to have vending machines which you fill for them on an out of hours service?

As you can see, both operated vending and DIY self fill options have their good points- but really it depends on the solution that you want to offer within your business. Our sales team have a lot of experience in problem-solving and their knowledge of vending is next to none. As I said before, we are flexible: whatever your needs are we will find a way to fulfil them!

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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Posted by linda

 

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We know all about food  miles and checking packaging from supermarkets to see where our food comes from. How about from a vending machine? Well, now you can see where your can or bottle of Coke, Diet Coke or Coke Zero that you purchase through one of our vending machines comes from – thanks to this:

http://www.cokecorporateresponsibility.co.uk/journey-of-a-coke/trace-your-coke.aspx

You can also see where other Coke products come from like Sprite, Fanta and Dr Pepper.

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Posted by linda

 

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I have to admit, we are a little bit sceptical at WestWays Vending. There are quite a lot of coffee vending machines being launched each month and we always ask: what’s the difference, why is this special and who is it aimed at? To sell the equipment, as a company you kind of have to believe in it. I believe, personally, it starts with the engineers. The engineers need to know that it’s a reliable machine, that is easy to fix; if it’s a machine that constantly breaks down or has manufacturing faults they will not want us selling it: who wants to constantly fix a machine and see unhappy customers? After the engineers believe in it- then the sales consultants need to: they need to see who the machine is aimed at, how it is different and that it is the right machine for our customers. If the machine is operated then our operations manager and his team need to be happy with it’s reliability, how easy it is to get parts off to clean and that it is the right machine for the site. A real team effort!

We have gone through the same process for the new Tassimo Professional.

The engineers went on a training course at Kenco’s ‘Centre of Excellence’  (that is what it’s called) to learn about the machine, its parts and how to remedy faults. They were pleased as the machine was made by Bravilor Bonamat, whose fresh ingredient coffee machines we sell – so we know that they are a trusted and efficient manufacturer. The engineers also found the machine really simple to use and diagnose. The touch button at the top is the button that they use for fault-finding and the display is large and clear enough to understand.

The sales team went, also to Kenco’s Centre of Excellence to find out how the machine works and its usability. I have to say now, that the people that went are fussy, one is a trained barista and the other three know their Kenco coffee’s and teas. They came back beaming- saying what wonderful drinks it makes- how the espresso tastes so good, the hot chocolate is divine and the cappuccino looks and tastes fantastic.

The rest of us had training on the Tassimo Professional by Adrian from Kenco in our offices. He showed the administration staff and the operators what the machine did and how it worked. The machine won’t be an operated machine, but they wanted to sample the drinks and understand how it works- as they often get asked questions when they deliver products. The first thing they noticed was how easy the machine was to clean- the empty T-DISC’s drop down into a bucket inside the machine, which needs to be emptied and periodically wiped down: a lot easier then bean to cup machines! We were all amazed by the consistent quality of drinks- again unlike some bean to cup machines. The administration staff liked the fact that they could vary the drink size: I am all for a larger drink as it means I have to get up less and others prefer drinks smaller and more concentrated.

All in all, we at WestWays Vending like the Tassimo Professional and thinks that it has a unique niche in the market. It is a machine that makes great quality, branded drinks, consistently. It allows each drink to be personalised  and is easy to use and clean.

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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Posted by linda

 

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Vehicle Tracking

March 17th, 2010

We have a total of seven vehicles that are out on the road most days (with more looking to be added!). We like to keep an eye on the vehicles and know where they are. Not to check on the drivers or find out where their favourite burger van is but to ensure that all the journeys  that our vehicles do are worthwhile. It is also useful to find out the exact locations of operators and service engineers in case we get an emergency call from one of our customers! We are very aware of all the emissions that are pumped in the air by our vehicles and are constantly looking to reduce the amount.

How do you look to reduce the amount of journeys your vehicles do? – You may ask, well firstly we have vehicle management and tracking system- known as NavMan installed. NavMan is clever- it is a software programme that uses Google Maps to show us where in the world our vehicles are in real time. Sometimes its scary: you can see which parking space a van is in, in a car park. Our operations manager, Mike, who plans the routes for the operators is constantly looking to see if there are different journeys that they could be doing  or if there are shorter routes. Not surprisingly, he has now got a really in-depth knowledge to all the road networks in Sussex, Kent and Surrey. As I am the Service Administrator I am always looking to see where the engineers are when fault calls come in, to see if they can complete the job same day or have to plan it into the next. For jobs that are too far out to complete and would lead to a wasteful journey we have some secret weapons: some Kenco trained service engineers that we sub-contract out to.

The second way that we reduce the amount of journeys that we complete is by using VendMan. As per my previous blog, VendMan contains all the  knowledge and information of WestWays. It shows all the information that the operators collect on their travels visiting our operated machines. Mike uses this information to determine how many times we should visit machines and by finding out which products are being used. He is able to maximise the popular products in the vending machines and to ensure that all routes are worthwhile.

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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Posted by linda

 

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Tassimo Professional

March 16th, 2010

All of us at WestWay Towers are rather excited about the new Tassimo Professional - it has been long talked about and is an innovation in itself.

We had our Kenco account manager, Adrian, down last week to show us all about the machine, what it does and generally why its so great. These are some of the facts that I gleamed from him:

  • The machine is energy conscience- it has an inbuilt energy saving mode, called ECO MODE. You can programme the machine to go into ECO MODE at times to suit you and can wake it up by touching the main button.
  • The machine is small. Smaller than you would think. If you were to have the machine on its own and either hide the T-DISC dispenser unit or not have it, the machine could fit even into the smallest office or cafe kitchen. The size of the Tassimo Professional is: height 410mm, width 230mm and depth 535mm.
  • The Tassimo Professional is simple to use. I know that its easy for us to say that as we are around vending machines all day. But this one is really simple. There is an ‘intelligent display’ (or a display which tells you what you need to do!) and you pretty much do everything by the touch a button.
  • The drinks that the Tassimo makes are good, really good. Well, what do you expect when the T-DISCs are branded drinks such as PG Tips tea, Suchard hot chocolate and Kenco coffees- Espresso, Medium Roast, Colombian… the list goes on! 

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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Posted by linda

 

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Work Experience: Part Two

March 12th, 2010

Well, Will has finished his two week work experience with us. He will be back at school Monday morning, probably relived that he is away from us adults- and the engineers who make him clean machines!

Here is his last blog:

“Hey again, it’s Will …, anyway over the past two weeks of work experience, I have learned  what WestWays Vending is mainly about in general, i.e. refurbishing vending machines and re-stocking them, and how much is actually put into it ,even though it sounds fairly easy….and I definitely know how to clean them by now..

I’ve learnt how to store the stock correctly, how to make labels for letters, sorted out labels - it might sound easy but really about 30-40 sheets of about 40 labels…  the rest of it isn’t as bad as that though, that’s about it I think ..Hmm…..thanks for reading :) “

Written by Katie and Will from WestWays Vending

 

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Posted by linda