Fully stocking vs selling out

[dapoopta]

Do you ever let your machines get 'low' in order to sell out certain items that usually don't sell? How do you judge when to fill them? Do you fill all the machines on the same day?

[moondog]

You definitely want to fill all machines at a given location at the same time - whether or not it's the same day each week or month is less important but you'll want to keep your servicing intervals fairly even.

For snacks, I use a snack chart for each machine which tells me what goes where and at what par levels. Keeping the same location for each item is helpful because some items won't vend well with certain coil sizes and some items will need product pushers. Once you know what vends smoothly in each location, it's best to keep it there - don't forget that you can always change coil sizes if you change products but it's easier to do the setup once and keep it there.

I monitor my newly located snack machines closely for the first 3 months or so to see what's selling and what's not - that's how I establish my par levels for each product. You don't want to have an item run dry, but you also don't want to have a lot of extras sitting there either.

What you'll find, is that when you start adding more snack machines, you'll also be adding more items to your inventory as your locations will differ in their snack preferences. At some point, you just won't be able to remember who gets what without the chart.

Ps. Don't fall into the trap of filling your machines with long shelf life products just to avoid stales - stock what sells, monitor your par levels, and realize that a few stales are just a part of doing business.

[beejaykc aka Munch A Bunch]

You definitely want to fill all machines at a given location at the same time - whether or not it's the same day each week or month is less important but you'll want to keep your servicing intervals fairly even.

For snacks, I use a snack chart for each machine which tells me what goes where and at what par levels. Keeping the same location for each item is helpful because some items won't vend well with certain coil sizes and some items will need product pushers. Once you know what vends smoothly in each location, it's best to keep it there - don't forget that you can always change coil sizes if you change products but it's easier to do the setup once and keep it there.

I monitor my newly located snack machines closely for the first 3 months or so to see what's selling and what's not - that's how I establish my par levels for each product. You don't want to have an item run dry, but you also don't want to have a lot of extras sitting there either.

What you'll find, is that when you start adding more snack machines, you'll also be adding more items to your inventory as your locations will differ in their snack preferences. At some point, you just won't be able to remember who gets what without the chart.

Ps. Don't fall into the trap of filling your machines with long shelf life products just to avoid stales - stock what sells, monitor your par levels, and realize that a few stales are just a part of doing business.

For us newbies, moondog - can you share the chart you specifically use?

I thought of doing a spreadsheet and using an online file storage (like Dropbox) so I can pull up the chart on my cell phone or ipad while on location.

[dogcow]

Fyi the chart the correct term is plan o gram

[moondog]

For us newbies, moondog - can you share the chart you specifically use?

I thought of doing a spreadsheet and using an online file storage (like Dropbox) so I can pull up the chart on my cell phone or ipad while on location.

I just use an Excell spreadsheet for my charts - they're not all the same as I have 3, 4 and 5 wide machines placed. I keep them in a binder which I use for prekitting. I leave the binder at home and just take a copy of any newer accounts with me for monitoring and par level purposes. Once I have a location established, I generally don't need the charts on site.

[beejaykc aka Munch A Bunch]

I just use an Excell spreadsheet for my charts - they're not all the same as I have 3, 4 and 5 wide machines placed. I keep them in a binder which I use for prekitting. I leave the binder at home and just take a copy of any newer accounts with me for monitoring and par level purposes. Once I have a location established, I generally don't need the charts on site.

Can you elaborate on your prekitting?

[moondog]

Can you elaborate on your prekitting?

My system is pretty crude compared to the software programs some of you guys are using. I typically service 10 machines a day (5 snack machines). I use the plastic storage boxes that are designed to slide under your bed (perfect height for chips, etc.) and just make sure I've got enough of everything I need, based on my "plan-o-gram" (I prefer chart), before leaving. This system works pretty good unless I forget the candy bar cooler

[beejaykc aka Munch A Bunch]

Do you have a tote for each location you load from your "warehouse" or do you load the totes based by product and haul it all into the location?

[dapoopta]

Here is my plan:

similar to the excel sheet used, except have it on google drive and have the app on your phone to access. Create a QUICK FILL tab where you go through each machine and mark what needs filled. i.e

B1 2

B2 3

B3 0

Then go back and grab those items and fill the totes (1 for each machine so you don't drag all the product into each customer).

What do you think?

[moondog]

Do you have a tote for each location you load from your "warehouse" or do you load the totes based by product and haul it all into the location?

Here is my plan:

similar to the excel sheet used, except have it on google drive and have the app on your phone to access. Create a QUICK FILL tab where you go through each machine and mark what needs filled. i.e

B1 2

B2 3

B3 0

Then go back and grab those items and fill the totes (1 for each machine so you don't drag all the product into each customer).

What do you think?

Actually,

I just use 6 storage containers with everything in them - 4 for chips, 1 for cookies and nuts and 1 for pastries and large cookies. Sometimes this changes depending upon which accounts I'm servicing. I've made some masonite strips for separating the products in each container (keep the strips loose so you have more flexibility) and they stack perfectly on my convertible hand truck - bungee cord them down and throw the candy bar cooler on top. Having everything at the snack machine is nice because sometimes you'll need more of something than your chart (aka POG) will show.

I tried prekitting for each account but ended up needing too many containers.

Ps. Dapoopta, that's the general idea but you might list the actual product for each selection

[dapoopta]

the products are listed also, but they are linked from individual pages where data is kept on how many of each item have sold in the past. I love doing excel sheets, so I've made mine fairly elaborate in tracking things :-)