The National Automatic Merchandising Association announced the release of the Vending Data Interchange (VDI) technical standard, VDI 2.0, to improve two-way data exchange between vending management systems and micro markets with privacy enhancements.
“The convenience services industry is reliant on technology for smooth business operations and to efficiently serve customers and consumers,” Chad Francis – vice president of software development and engineering at 365 Retail Markets, and chair of the NAMA VDI Task Force, which is responsible for the standard – said in the announcement. “NAMA’s VDI 2.0 standard ensures that all equipment can uniformly send and receive data, giving operators maximum flexibility to choose equipment that meets the specific needs of each customer.”
The new standard, named Vending Data Interchange 2.0, enables aggregated reporting, expands messaging and management capabilities, and establishes more stringent data security.
Expanded error reporting and messaging capabilities give convenience services operators more detailed information about the status of information flowing between vending management systems and micro markets. New reporting features include integration with inventory and financial management systems. VDI 2.0 also supports an interface with planogram and restocking specifications and brings a substantial advance in data security.
The NAMA VDI 2.0 standard is available on the NAMA website.
