VENDING SOFTWARE AFR – the next best thing? S


B Software has revealed what it calls the next best thing in vending software – Automated Fleet Routing (AFR).


The company believes AFR can take an


operator’s business to a whole new level by providing routing across a whole business. To do this AFR draws on the detailed information held in SB Software’s Vendmanger


across the whole estate. Taking precise data for every machine it first calculates which of them should be visited. It then examines supplementary criteria, such as people availability,


hours, start/end locations, holidays, and other priorities set by the customer, to work out the best set of routes for each vehicle across a fleet, including route maps and schedules for each van/driver. According to SB Software managing director Simon Black, this sets AFR above other approaches such as dynamic routing because it is machine-led, recognising, and prioritising the exact needs of each driver.


“It just needed powerful algorithms and clever coding to ensure everything works well, is easy to use and understood by our clients. “The output is clear simple scheduling, including route maps,


profiling the best way to deploy the resources you have across the business, against the priorities that you have set. “And it’s straightforward and fast to use, so you can run what-if scenarios as often as you like, with automatic re-optimisation just a click away to illustrate the impact. “AFR in action has got that “wow factor” but it’s not magic, quite the opposite. “It is so firmly rooted in hard data, facts, and the science of coding that it is the very opposite of magic. It is anti-magic. And that is even better. Because it is consistently reliable, dependable and above all, repeatable.”


Transforming vending management


To run a successful vending concern, you need the means to provide complete transparency into business performance, identify opportunities to drive efficiency, reduce costs, increase sales and grow your profits. But what if there was a flexible cloud-based solution offering a comprehensive vending management system covering everything from stock and service to micro markets and touchless payment with customisable features that put you in control. Joanne Vinton-Bullwinkel, Vianet’s head of


product said: “We promised customers that the latest SmartVend releases would be worth waiting for and that is certainly the case. There are lots of fantastic new features in the latest releases that will really make a difference for our customers. A stock management tool, service dashboard, cash management


tool are notable features and there is an intuitive mobile app enabling operators and engineers to work effectively from their field or office. The workforce instantly becomes more effective with customisable


prompts that can be set up against machines, sites and/or operators and are triggered by time/date or an event. This allows users to add both mandatory and non-mandatory actions, notes, alerts, reminders, requests for information and/or checklists for operators to complete during their route. Vianet have also revisited existing functionality to ensure it meets the standards set by the new features and additions. This included making significant improvements to the way routes are scheduled, allowing customers to set their own specific thresholds, and making re-assignment and changes to routes as easy as possible. Other features include a new estate map giving an overview of the entire estate, proactive pick lists based on current and predicted stock, kerbside scanning, and a new finance module. The solution also works seamlessly with Vianet’s contactless payment and telemetry products. Mark Parry, Vianet’s commercial director said: “The outlook for the vending industry is really encouraging and Vianet is committed to supporting customers on the journey. The flexibility of the SmartVend cloud-based vending management system and its seamless integration of automated data, is supporting our expansion into new UK and European markets.”


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