choosing the right automatic machine...made easy!

The drink is simultaneously “debited” from the tag. Each tag can be programmed to have a predetermined number of free drinks stored each day. At 12 midnight the memory is reset. This means that if someone is off on holiday or on sickness leave, they will still only have one day’s credit of drinks when they return. These systems are very basic, but very reliable. They are limited, and can only be used for free-vend control, but if all you are looking for is to give a few drinks per day to your staff, then this is the best way to do it.

There are other alternatives. Systems where a card is inserted into the machine and each time a drink is vended, a small piece is “nibbled” from the card are hugely popular. These cards usually hold up to 20 vends. The cards need to be given to staff each week or each month. One feature that this system has, which cannot be achieved with the tag system, is that these cards can be sold. If they are to be sold, then the same distribution problems as with tokens can occur. Someone has to be responsible for selling the cards and accounting for the money. However, this could be in a secure office, and it does mean that no cash is used in the machine, which may be in a less secure area. The most sophisticated cashless systems operated by using a credit card. These cards can be combined to provide entry passes and even clocking in, if required.

A separate machine to dispense and validate the cards can also be supplied. This means that employees can place their cards into the validator, insert money and this will then be credited to their card, which can then be used in the machine. Again, the validator can be installed in a secure area and no cash needs to be used in the machine. These systems are highly sophisticated, and as such are also highly expensive. Indeed, you may be asked to pay more for the cashless system than you have paid for your vending machine! However, very large companies, or companies with security issues may well find the many benefits of this type of system to be well worth the money.

2. Do you want to have freshbrew tea or freeze-dried (instant) tea, filter coffee or freeze-dried (instant) coffee...or both. Decaffeinated Coffee? Soup? Having decided on your payment system, you now need to decide precisely which drinks you want to have in your machine. We’ll start with Tea. There are three types of Tea available. The first and least expensive is spray dried Instant Tea. This is the Tea that vending machines have been using for several years. If you had a cup of tea from a vending machine ten years ago, this would have been what you would have been drinking. Whilst the quality is average, this would not be acceptable for tea connoisseurs! A much more acceptable form of Instant Tea is the freeze-dried granules produced by PG Tips. This produces a high quality tea, which is approaching the standard of “real” tea. The third and by far the best quality alternative is Leaf Tea. This is real tea, made from real tealeaves.

vendingabc is from cafe azzurro limited