Vending Blog #7--Leading Edge Vending Made Easy

[Uncle Sam]

The rapid development of very reliable digital technology creates great pressure on those of us who design and build equipment for the car wash industry. Add to that the necessity to protect this new technology from vandalism and theft and we have a steep hill to climb. One of the design principles that ShurVend has always tried to follow is to allow upgrades to our vending equipment with the latest in technology without relegating the older vendors to the trash heap and losing your investment. No one is very happy with that scenario especially when it is YOUR money. Talk about preserving capital or investment; try that with the HDTV that one has to buy even though the old analog TV still works well. Or a car, truck, or furniture whose designs are quickly dated and the values drop.

The ShurVend Vending system, using the AMS vendors which I buy or build, is one of those investments that does not have ?built-in obsolescence? and can be upgraded with relative ease. And it won?t cost you an ?arm and a leg? to upgrade to the latest technology. I still have the first AMS vendor I bought in 1998 and it is still running just as good as ever. It has been upgraded with the new very reliable Sensit II system (new display, control board, sensing devices) so it is equivalent to a new vendor right off the assembly line in 2008. I can also tell you that the very first machine I sold to a car wash operator in Alabama in March, 1999 is at its second wash site under new ownership and still working every day

Cont'd

 

[Uncle Sam]

Structurally (the basic door and cabinet) has changed very little in the past 10 years, but the important software/firmware has improved greatly. If I wanted to install one of the new credit card systems in my 10 year old vendor (or any of those sold since then), it could be done easily. No holes to cut, doors to change, or turning the vendor upside down!! You just upgrade the vendor to the Sensit II system, upload the latest software to the control board, and install the card reader in an existing cutout already built into the vendor. VOILAAA !! You are as up-to-date as a new vendor.

The new “real time” monitoring that can be done online is also compatible with the ShurVend system. One credit card system we sell will email daily reports on vendor sales, both cash and credit card. There are new credit card systems being developed constantly (as evidenced at the show in Orlando), so an operator has many choices to evaluate. Most of these are compatible with the ShurVend system. Operators that need and want to upgrade their ShurVend systems can be assured that it is doable and not too costly to preserve their investment.

Uncle Sam