Fastenal Marks Vending Machine Milestone
FEATURE
Fastenal recently installed its 50,000 FAST Solutions industrial vending machine.
The milestone machine, which was placed in the Terex Mixer manufacturing plant in Fort Wayne, IN, represents seven years of innovative growth for Fastenal.
In 2008 Fastenal displayed two prototype machines at its annual customer expo, debuting its vending program.
At the time, industrial vending (dispensing high-demand shop consumables at the point of use) was niche technology due to the high cost of the machines and the labor required to manage them. Fastenal leveraged its network of 2,600 stores to provide machines and lockers as part of a low-cost, full-service inventory management solution.
“From the beginning, we saw vending as an investment in our customers – a way to solidify relationships and earn opportunities by providing tremendous value in terms of time and cost savings,” said COO Lee Hein.
Fastenal admits the concept “took some time to gain traction.” In the first few years, the company installed a total of 7,000 machines. But by the end of 2014, the number of installed machines jumped to 46,000.
During that time, Fastenal’s vending offering has expanded to support a spectrum of product shapes and sizes – from tiny cutting tool inserts to bulky items like boxes and aerosol cans.
To put Fastenal’s achievement into perspective, “there are now significantly more FAST Solutions devices in operation than Redbox movie and game rental locations.”
“Vending has quickly become a core part of Fastenal’s business and one of our most important growth drivers,” added Hein.
FIN subscribers can read the last seven years of Fastenal fastener results by clicking HERE.
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