Reflecting on the Year 2013

[Uncle Sam]

I took some time to reread many of my posts over the past two years to refresh my memory on what was written. Each year as I reflect on what changes occurred during the year for ShurVend, there is usually some new technology to adapt to our system or some weakness in our design that needs to be addressed. This year it was designing a vendor system to fit the evolving and fast growing Express Exterior (EE) wash model. The past few years has seen a paradigm shift to this model in which attendants are few and free self serve vacuums are numerous; a merger between full serve washing and self serve vacuuming.

The development of the EE wash model over the past few years has minimized the vending center as an important revenue source or left it out of many EE building plans. One of the reasons I think this is done is because of security concerns of the vending machine during the long night hours the EE was closed. Some tried video cameras for security and others tried steel roll down doors to protect the vendor in an alcove that could be locked up at night. Our experience proved neither of these methods were not very secure at all.

Cont'd

 

[Uncle Sam]

ShurVend introduced a new concept for the EE segment based on our VendPro-iG4 vendor at the Car Wash Show in Las Vegas. This new vendor named the VendPro-iG4EE had a second hinged door built on it to completely close off all access to the window and any of the openings in the vendor which customers use. The vendor became a closed steel box when the wash closed so there was no easy access to tempt vandalism or theft. The vendor can be opened to customers by the attendants in the morning and then closed and locked up when the wash closed. This design has been tweaked and improved as feedback has come to us from operators who have purchased these vendors. We have heard of no vandalism or theft from any of these machines.

ShurVend is very proud of the basic VendPro-iG4 design (which is designed exclusively for car wash use and not a modified snack vendor as some of our competitors like to say) and the versions that have evolved from it. The VendPro-iG4/VendPro-iG4EE are easy to operate, accepts bills, coins, tokens, or credit cards, has bright LED lights, is secure, and can be installed free standing, against a wall, or into a wall (front load or rear load) preferably in or near the vacuum area of a wash site. We look forward to the Year 2014 in which we do not have to make major design changes to adapt to the evolving car wash business models.

Uncle Sam