By Ian Reynolds-Young
AFR Main Picture: L-R Simon Black, Dan Varney
The industry already recognises SB Software for the role it is playing in making vending, OCS and micromarkets operations better managed and more profitable, as evidenced by the company’s ‘trophy cabinet’. MD Simon Black’s burgeoning business has received 16 nationwide awards in total to date, and four of those have come over this past year: two from the AVS (Best Innovation & Best Support) and two in The Vendies (Best Ancillary & Best Customer Service).
What’s more, SB Software’s new feature, Automatic Fleet Routing, (AFR), has all the attributes required to suggest that the company will be adding still more benefits for operators in the years to come.
So, how does it it work? Put simply, AFR draws on precise Vendmanager data from every one of your machines to automatically create the optimum routing for vending, service and wholesale, with a time specified for each task, thereby generating scheduled itineraries for each of your vans.
SB Software, with its hugely successful Vendmanager, is a business that’s evidently in tune with our marketplace, which – given Head of Operations Dan Varney’s CV – is hardly surprising. ‘My whole background is in vending operations, so for example I’m well aware of the pitfalls incumbent in running a fleet of vehicles and I know all about the way costs can spiral due to unnecessary or inefficient visits to machines’, he says.
Which brings us back to AFR: Dan walks me through the features and benefits AFR is already bringing to customers. He begins by saying that the full customer presentation for AFR can take a couple of hours to do the system justice, and that what follows is ‘a condensed version’. Forty-five minutes later, I’m shell-shocked.
Whilst it’s true that I’ve been involved in the vending business for over 15 years, I’ve never hewn at the coalface and – I hold my hands up – I think I lack the experience to fully appreciate some of Dan’s finer points. (Get in touch for the full rundown). Meanwhile, these are the bullets:
Automatic Fleet Routing…
- automates routing for vending, service and wholesale tasks, with a time specified for each.
- takes start/end locations into account.
- configures working hours/overtime.
- allows the operator to prioritise tasks against the criteria that matter most to him.
- recognises site opening hours and SLA’
- automatically adjusts for available staff (and takes into account their individual skill levels).
- can be updated throughout the day, as service events are added.
- gives you optimised routing, all day, every single day; at the click of a button or at your preferred time.
Once upon a time operators needed an in-house expert to plan routes and allocate the right staff to the right task; and then re-work them as necessary in response to staff absences or other changes in priority. Now with AFR, anybody can do it, at the touch of a button. As often as required.
Wasted journeys? Forget ’em
My takeaways from the presentation are that using AFR improves both efficiency and service, while reducing fuel costs and allowing you to deploy your staff more effectively. Wasted journeys? Forget ’em. With AFR they’re a thing of the past, which in turn allows you to allocate more time to calls (for tasks such as cleaning) or incorporate more calls into the day.
‘AFR is definitely one of the most powerful features of our system’, Dan says. ‘Working with our clients, we’ve been at the leading edge of harnessing the power of data and technology for vending operators, and AFR is another example of us re-drawing the boundaries of ‘what’s possible’. The system has tremendous sophistication and functionality but we’ve made it incredibly easy for operators to use.’
As ever, the real proof of the pudding is in the eating, and feedback from the field on AFR backs Dan up:
RSL
Steve Wright, Operations Director: ‘AFR helps us to schedule our vans more efficiently and to make best use of our time and resources (especially vans) right across the business.’ (More on SB Software’s partnership with RSL HERE)
Nutrivend
Scott Morgan, MD: ‘Now everyone can run the routing. AFR is simple and effective, calculating the best routes and the most important jobs to visit. This gives the team more time to address other tasks, adding more value and decreasing risk.’ (The full story is HERE)
‘AFR adds significant incremental value to a system that is already industry leading’, Dan says. ‘All of our developments, all our improvements to the system; everything we do is measured against the same criterion: ‘How will this innovation help our customers to run their businesses better?’
And – just maybe – there lies the secret of SB Software’s success…
More? Access Planet Vending’s archive of SB Software stories HERE
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