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

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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

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

We have several sources of supply for refurbished machines: customers who are replacing their current equipment, refurbished machine suppliers and we also buy vending equipment from people getting rid of theirs. These machines come into our warehouse and are assessed by our trained engineers. The engineers may decide that it may not worth refurbishing the machine as it may require too much work or they won’t be able to bring the machine up to grade for a customers premises. If this is the case, the engineers will strip the machine: take off parts that they can reuse. This is part of our environmental policy: we will never scrap anything that we can reuse with a bit of work.

If the engineers deem the vending machine as good – then their work starts. Obviously, it varies from machine to machine- as refurbishing a coffee machine is different to a cold drinks machine and what state the equipment is in to start with. As a rule of thumb: the engineers start by cleaning the machine: which is what Will was doing when he was on work experience with us. People tend to think that being an engineer is quite glamorous, but they spend quite a large amount of their time with their hands in rubber gloves cleaning parts! When the clean is over the engineers start testing the machine, normally this means seeing what is working on the machines. If a part isn’t working they replace it if they cannot repair it.

After they test the machine, make sure everything is doing what its supposed to be doing, they then PAT test it. Sometimes problems that will come out in the future, such as boilers not heating, show up in the PAT test and it also gives our customers piece of mind that their electrical equipment has been properly checked out. I heard a horror story about a machine being delivered directly from manufacturer onto site which had been wired wrongly: when the machine was plugged in it gave whoever touched it an electrical shock!! We have never had a problem like this as we thoroughly check the machine over before it leaves and the engineers test fully with products to make sure there are no safety issues.

Once the engineer is happy that the machine is performing well, their last job is to make sure the machine looks good. The WestWays general rule is that the machine needs to look like new and not to give our engineers big heads but they normally achieve this high standard. Sometimes it just takes a bit of spit and polish and the machine scrubs up alright, but sometimes glass has to be replaced in snack machines, decals changed on can machines and whole doors on beverage machines. Our engineers do like a challenge!

All in all, we like to give our customers piece of mind that while their refurbished machine may not be new and had a former home that our engineers will do all that they can to make the machine like new. A second hand machine does not mean a second rate machine. 

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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

It will be a hard market to penetrate as the coffee shop market is already saturated. Early reports say that the shops may have in house chocolatiers to make giant versions of our favourite chocolate bars such as Twirls, Curley Wurleys and Flakes that are able to wrapped up to take home. The Cadbury Cocoa House is also going to launch affordable afternoon teas and yummy hot chocolates.

It looks like the first Cadbury Cocoa House will be opened in London by the end of the year… I can’t wait!!

Written by: Katie from WestWays Vending

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.

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

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