Another excellent operator, REFRESHMENT SYSTEMS has asked PV to Shout Out for your vote. Here is why, in their own words.
BY IAN FERGUSON AND ALISTAIR BALMFORTH
It sounds simple but ‘filled, clean and working’ is the mantra for success in the vending industry, something we undertake with our core values at heart: integrity, teamwork, a can-do-attitude, prudence and innovation.
Our mantra can only be achieved through a three dimensional approach which includes our most important assets: our people, our processes and utilising our technology to maximum effect.
People
Our people, both employees and customers, are our most valued assets and we recognise the added value of good people management. All of our line managers have been through a suite of management courses emphasising the importance of key issues such as customer service, equality and diversity and performance management. This work is continual and emphasises greater people engagement through more professional management.
Processes such as weekly staff reviews, monthly bonuses and an annual recognition ceremony are indicative of how we are focusing on achieving better results by engaging more productively with our people.
Processes
Well defined and implemented processes represent the hard grind fundamentals to achieving success in vending. Setting achievable targets for performance in all areas, which are then monitored and measured, is crucial to the smooth running of our business, and the constant evaluation and feedback ensures continual improvement.
As examples, this results in our attendance of 99% of all service calls within 8 working hours, 99.8% of machines being full at any point in time and non-recyclable waste being cut by 83% over the last seven years.
Our internal ISO 9001/14001 team continually support us in this area and our commitment to staying green is reflected in our accreditations; being the only CarbonZero vending company – through our work with CO2balance and winning the 2015 Green Wholesaler of the Year Award from Confex.
New technologies
In 2006 we designed and had built the software now used by most of the industry for the capture of real-time operator information. Recently we have pioneered one of the most effective route scheduling software tools available, which has reduced our fuel usage by 12% from 2013 to 2014. We now reschedule all our operative visits every two weeks using data based on the most recent live history of each machine – dynamically assigning visits and casting to the past seasonal or “knee-jerk” changes to filling schedules.
We do all of this to ultimately satisfy our customers, as without them we wouldn’t exist! It would mean a great deal to the company if we won and would be a fantastic reward for the hard work and dedication displayed by everyone at Refreshment Systems. Please help us to win by voting for us at the 2015 Vendies – Best operating company (£5-9m)
