There are now around 100 Quiosk vending machines in the Netherlands. If it is up to director Nick de Leeuw, this number will soon increase. Delmation has been involved in this innovative concept from the start and ensures that Robustel R2000-4L and the RCMS cloud platform for connectivity. We spoke to Quiosk director about his company, connectivity and the collaboration with Delmation.
Innovative vending concept
As with so many good ideas, the concept of Quiosk is actually very simple. A car wash, gas station and student complex are locations where a lot of people come and there is often no shop to buy something. Quiosk places a and outdoor or indoor vending machine with soft drinks, candy bars and a number of non-food products. When the machine is empty, Quiosk refills it, so the entrepreneur where this smart machine is completely unburdened, he can offer his customers something extra and he also receives compensation for this.
Nick de Leeuw: “The idea is indeed simple, but the execution is a lot more complex. The machines are a big investment on our part. So we have to be sure that the machines are placed in places where we can earn back the investment. In addition, the machines have to be refilled, updated, cleaned and maintained on time. We are currently working with 8 colleagues to visit and supply the locations. In the coming year, we want to further professionalize, digitalize and automate our company and we have the ambition to double our number of locations in the coming year.”
Connectivity crucial for concept
Quiosk uses smart vending machines that are connected to the internet. This makes it possible to monitor and manage everything remotely.
Nick de Leeuw: “Our machines are 24/7 online. We continuously know everything about the machines, such as stock, malfunctions and payments. All payments are made cashless, so connectivity is also crucial here. We only want to visit locations when it is really necessary. Our machine tells us when it is empty and if something is wrong, we try to plan this as smartly as possible. Our software determines for colleagues which locations need to be supplied. However, it can happen that someone visits the location in the event of malfunctions, but we usually manage to resolve the malfunction online. Often, restarting or updating the system remotely is enough to resolve a malfunction. We only really have a major problem when the internet connection is down.
A reliable internet connection is therefore crucial. If the machine is placed indoors, WiFi is used if possible. At outdoor locations we work with the Robustel R2000-4L and R2010-4L and a M2M (machine to machine) SIM card from Delmation.”
Delmation for connectivity
The vending machine was conceived and developed by Quiosk. Delmation was involved in the development early on to ensure reliable connectivity.
Nick de Leeuw: “Without connectivity, no Quiosk. It is therefore very important for us to make the right choices here. On the one hand, that is reliable products and on the other hand, a reliable and competent partner. We found that with Delmation. Robustel supplies routers with industrial quality and the RCMS cloud management software ensures that we can monitor everything. In our partnership with Delmation, it is also nice that they are always there for us if we run into problems!”
For more information, see: https://www.quiosk.nl
Nederlands