Cutter vending machines any positive experiences?

[RJT]

We have had one for several years for taps, inserts, end mills, and a few other items. We own the inventory, they own the machine. Not the least expensive price per item, but with the ease of reordering and never having someone have to wait for a cutter to do a job, well worth it in a job shop. Each employee has his pin number, they want two 1/4 -20 taps, the drawer with dividers opens only far enough to get 2 taps. They send me an email with the correct part number and reorder quantity when minimum quantity is reached, really convenient and fast to reorder. I have my administrative assistant fill machine when stock comes in, foolproof part number / drawer number system (all done with bar code reader). You scan the packing slip, appropriate drawer opens, drop in new inventory. Great for a job shop where not having the right tool at the right time can cause problems. We very seldom have to ship anything overnight any more.

 

[mhajicek]

We have had one for several years for taps, inserts, end mills, and a few other items.

Which system is that?

 

[RJT]

With the possibility of getting flamed, MSC. They have done their homework, it is a very reliable system. We don't pay catalog prices, but as I said, if you look at price per insert only, it's not the least expensive option. The value is in the total cost of having what you need when you need it. Well worth it to me. I know others have horror stories about MSC, but we have been a regular customer for over 20 years. The rare mix up has been handled quickly and professionally. 98% of the time we have orders next day (without overnight shipping charges). Free freight on orders over $100.00 . I like McMasters website better, but I prefer knowing the brand I am buying.

 

[CarbideBob]

Negatives? Bad experience?
I does not fit in some places and can be an increased cost and pain to the checkbook.
If you can not cycle what is in that vend machine in two, three months or less its a bad way to go.
Some parts do not fit, some packaging does not vend well so repack needed.

"Borrowing" the vend ID or card and stocking your tool box for the year.
Drawer systems and you have to trust people to take only what they asked for which blows the whole automatic counting and automatic reorder cost and time saving thing out the window.
Initial setup is costly in time and information input. This can easily equal the price of the machine but any tool control system has this.
It is a change to how things are done and getting all sides to sign on on the same day can be a challenge.

Our coil machines came from Automatic Products which I bow to their help and Mars who made the control boards and changed it so we could vend from PC commands.
The carousel 'sandwich type" from Crane who gave us the source code to modify and make it work.
The whole thing to me started as a locking drawer Lista cabinet pc controlled idea from a great engineering manger at Buick.

Certainly there must be real world fails to offset all the this is good stuff talk.
Bob

 

[beege]

I have a fairly new department in the company I work for. We only recently (3 yrs) started making production level components. I started out with a mindset to keep standardized tools, but there are quite a few. We started out with one small tool cabinet, 18 or so drawers. We soon had to get another one. And then another. I spent an hour or so each week going through the drawers, checking inventory, ordering what was low. I worked with my MSC rep to get a vending machine in, and gave him a list of what we were using. He worked up quotes with discounts for each item, and we had them install the machine. Free if we used it for 90% MSC purchases. Now I spend 10 minutes a week max, and we're never out of tools we need. I could just click a box and I wouldn't even have to spend that. Positive experience. For me. BTW, the software is Control Point

 

[Greg White]

Good Luck on ur new endeavor Marcus, I wish you well.
I have always read your threads with intrest , Hoping to find talk of molds or die cast dies.altho differnt types here,I helped build mold and dies here in the Motor City most of me life .
Happy trails Sir.
Gw

 

[RJT]

Beege,

"Now I spend 10 minutes a week max, and we're never out of tools we need."

Sounds like we both had a very similar experience. That sums up the "value" of the cost per insert, it's just not the price per piece. Some of what Carbide Bob says depends on which system you are using. We have no trouble keeping inventory accurate, drawers open only deep enough to take the quantity requested, each drawer has dividers and hold 1 item per division.
Like Beege said, initial setup was done by the vendor with a list we supplied, pretty painless.

 

[Mike1974]

We had the Fastenal machines some years back. Worked great, punch in your id, and selection and it automatically updated quantities. They came in and refilled when stock was at a certain minimum that we specified.

 

[colton_m]

Looks like we are in the same neck of the woods. We use Thomas Skinners tool crib system and it works great. You tap your name, enter a password then the drawers unlock and you scan the tools you need to take. You set a minimum and maximum qty. for each tool and they are automatically re-ordered and shipped to us when the min. value is reached. Our sales guy comes and re-loads the drawers, but you could do it yourself. Only difference is you pay when the items are shipped, not when they're used so you own everything in the tool crib. Slow moving Items are reviewed yearly and you can return stuff for a refund at that point if you like. I've been using this system for a year and have never run out of anything.

- Colton