Crane Co.’s Glenn Butler Claims Disruptions Of Service Don’t Jeopardize Pre-kitting Routes

Glenn Butler, vice president and chief technology officer of Crane Merchandising Systems, claims service disruptions don’t jeopardize pre-kitted route schedules. Butler defends pre-kitting routes in response to a podcast that aired on Jan. 6, 2010 in which a vending operator claimed service disruptions would create scenarios that operators would have a hard time managing. In the event of a disruption in service, Butler says companies will go one day and may reuse bins, but any longer than that, they will return the old bins to inventory and re-pack using the latest data. Butler notes newer scheduling systems can be invaluable in cases like this since they forecast accurate sellout information in the case of remotely managed machines. The route supervisor can rebuild the routes following a snowstorm and make sure that the highest priority locations with the highest sellouts can be serviced first.