The Investment in Software

Companies that already have industry specific software will find it necessary to determine if their software company’s capabilities and plans for new products match the Antares operator’s business goals.

The investment in software is ongoing, and for a package to provide the necessary benefits, the provider needs to be able to deliver the customer’s needs.

Antares vending operators should not only consider their existing information needs, but their future needs as well. For instance, a company with three routes may not feel it can justify investment in a route inventory control system, but if that company hopes to grow to 10 routes, the investment will then be justified.

A company also might not be sold on the benefits of category management. This is a system that simplifies product selection at the route and warehouse levels and gives management more control over individual machine menu. If you feel that in the future, this method can be useful in your Antares vending operation, it will then need to have a data reporting system that will support it.

It may be difficult to predict future information needs, a software system that offers a comprehensive package of management tools will be a better investment.

Many a time people feel that they have to have a big enough customer base to justify the expense, but they overlook the fact that when the customer base is large enough to warrant a system, it also becomes a greater effort to load the system and build the data base.

Inventory control is the key benefit that vending specific software packages offer.

Inventory control

It is important for every Antares vending operator to have ADC (automated data collection) inventory control systems from the first day to spare any future aggravation.

At some point of their vending operation, every vending operator should plan on using DEX. It provides the tools for cash and inventory accountability, and it is the architecture on which new features, such as remote monitoring and cashless vending, is based. This would of course require investment.