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Supply Chain Technology Reaches Major Milestone
After a quarter century of development, industrial vending is a well-established best practice across the globe. And while the industry's past and present show its significant growth, ongoing technology innovations also point to significant, future growth potential.
The origin of self-serve, automation technology and its surrounding industry can be traced to a single patent issued 25 years ago on April 27, 1993. United States patent number 5,205,436 was granted to Kent Savage for his "Machine Tool Dispensing Device and System." Savage is founder and CEO of Apex Supply Chain Technologies®.
25 Years of Industry Innovation
The technology was created to automatically dispense cutting tools and other items at a Ford Motor Company manufacturing plant. This pre-Internet solution included a dispensing device hardwired to a controller physically located on site. A DOS-based computer controlled device access, it operated the system's controls and it processed data to track inventory levels and to help ensure items would be refilled in a timely manner.
The industrial vending industry quickly took shape, with several competitors either incorporating or deploying their first installations of industrial vending technology within five years of Savage's patent.
Companies including Apex have built on this technology, expanding beyond devices that dispense cutting tools to include PPE, consumables and a wide variety of other items. As a result, the software and hardware that includes industrial vending is known today by the broader term, "self-serve automation."
Powered by the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based data platforms, self-serve automation reduces operational costs and increases employee productivity for tens of thousands of companies ranging from small, independent businesses to the ranks of global manufacturing giant and forward-thinking distribution organizations.
Industry Expands into New Applications & Industries
Today, there are nearly 250,000 self-serve, automated devices deployed globally. And the worldwide forecast for industrial vending has been predicted to be more than 1.7 million devices.
Self-serve automation is used in a variety of applications, improving everything from inventory replenishment to the management of enterprise mobile devices and other valuable equipment. Self-serve, automated technology is also being embraced by the retail, restaurant and foodservice industries in consumer-facing applications.