With the arrival of a new Quickvend tool vending management system, why is tool vending something that you really need to be considering? As part of the Quickgrind Group of companies, Quickvend takes us through the points to consider before taking the next step.

First and foremost, engineers need to look at their tool inventory procedures with a fresh pair of eyes and ask a number of pertinent questions. These questions include points such as: Is your tool availability secured? Is your inventory reduced to a minimum? Are repeat tooling orders generated automatically and on-time? Do you value machine up-time and are you keen to reduce stocks and wastage?

Considering the above points, most manufacturers without tool management will have had, stock shortages at some point. The result was probably a job that you needed to get out-of-the-door and you didn’t have the appropriate tooling available. Is this point resonating?

If you start to dig a little deeper, you can ask yourself some more searching questions; and these questions may highlight more inefficiencies in your tool management systems.

Are your staff guided easily and trouble-free to stock? Is stock information available quickly and transparently? Can a stock audit be carried out at the push of a button? Does your system regulate access to new and re-ground or remanufactured tools? Does your system provide an automated supply chain and stock control? Are you witnessing increasing costs associated with purchasing administration?

If you are already implementing tool management systems, does your system cover all of the above points? If you are only considering or starting your tool management journey, this set of questions identifies where your current inefficiencies may lay.

Tim Darch from Quickvend, gives 10 good reasons to take control of your inventory management via a Quickvend solution: “The opportunities for best practice, sound inventory management and cost reduction potential are huge. So, considering 10 good reasons to investigate vending, manufacturers should be conscious of the ability to provide secure 24/7 stock availability with a complete audit trail, the point-of-use convenience with low-cost multi-site and multi-device options, the reduction of stock-level administration, the elimination of unauthorised retrievals and usage tracking and ‘pay as you use’ inventory. Our system also increases stock accuracy by identifying slow moving or obsolete stock, it reduces purchasing costs with just one invoice per month, the reports can also be generated by user, job, cell or department. When you consider these factors, professional tool management systems can deliver huge benefits and massive cost savings.”

But with so many vendors in the marketplace, why chose a Quickvend solution? Tim continues: Quickgrind’s robust, proven tool vending solutions are the solution to all the previously mentioned issues and more. Once we have audited your tooling requirements and consumption levels, we can supply engineers with a fully stocked machine – as our range of machines can hold from 300 to 1,680+ individual tools. The usage and stock levels are then automatically monitored, and replacement tools are sent-out before your stocks deplete. Because your tooling inventory and usage levels are pre-determined, you regain complete control.

“Our systems are designed, built, tested and manufactured in the UK by our experts. When engineers invest in our tool management systems, they are buying into the philosophy that we can fully service and support the products with confidence. From a technical perspective, our systems are built and tested with security ‘front of mind’, and that is why we adopt secure Linux based software. The device has the option of wired or mobile communication, but our preference for peace of mind is 4G, completely removing the system from the customers’ network.”