600, Inc. Hits Milestone to Provide "Vending Hero" Service to 100,000 Vending Machines
Demonstration trial of over 1,000 units achieves overall 24% and maximum 39% improvement in route operation work
TOKYO, June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- 600, Inc., a developer of business related to unmanned shops, has announced the conclusion of a service provision agreement of its AI-based Vending Hero vending machine DX service for 100,000 vending machines.
Vending Hero fuses past sales data and other varied data with feedback from route operation staff possessing extensive work experience and knowledge, to provide services that use AI to enable optimization of vending machine columns and restocking numbers along with optimization and automation of vending machine route plans.
Route operation work has conventionally involved considerable variation in quality between experienced and inexperienced route operation staff. The introduction of Vending Hero allows businesses to incorporate the knowledge of experienced top route sales staff throughout the system, raising the overall level of the business and reducing the time spent on tasks such as forms preparation.
Moreover, the service automatically proposes optimized sets for vending machine product columns,* taking sales performance into consideration. This optimization of route visit scheduling and product columns reduces unnecessary route visits while reducing sales opportunity losses.
This optimization in turn raises the quality of vending machine operation and creates additional time for activities such as strengthening of relationships with location owners, consideration of events in areas peripheral to vending machines, and formulation of special plans for unique locations, allowing route operation-related staff to allocate more time to high-value-added work.
Prior to the agreement involving 100,000 vending machines, a demonstration trial of over 1,000 units was conducted at multiple sales offices for about one month.
As a metric for measuring work efficiency, restocking number per unit visit recorded improvement of as much as 39% in the trial, with an average 24% improvement recorded overall in the restocking number per unit visit compared to the same month in the previous year. Even on a route that served as a model case with change in sold-out rate and other related metrics taken into account, an improvement rate of 30% was recorded. The achievement of such significant improvements overall led to the conclusion of the agreement involving 100,000 vending machines.
600 will continue its efforts to make vending machine DX a reality through Vending Hero, and to contribute to the development of the industry as a whole.
*"Columns" refers to the openings for the insertion of products at the back of an opened vending machine.
About 600, Inc.
Founded in June 2017, 600, Inc. offers the 600 Mini unmanned convenience store for offices, and the Store600 unmanned store for condominiums. It also operates the Vending Hero vending machine route visit optimization system that uses AI to support vending machine DX. Together these provide a state-of-the-art purchasing experience that brings people and goods closer together, enhancing a "50m commerce radius" within a 1-minute walk.
To improve employee productivity, the company has also implemented a four-day work week since its founding.
Media Contact
Kei Kubo, 600, Inc., +81 368109722, [email protected]
SOURCE 600, Inc.
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