The Hidden engineering of a snack revolution
The Quiet Problem
Vending machines are often neglected. Leadership teams know this based on the many complaints we’ve heard from countless directors and managers (like eye roll after eye roll), but fixing it feels like swapping one unknown for another. Some facilities keep signing new contracts, hoping for a different outcome, but the same issues return because the problem isn’t the front end. It’s the flow.
The thing is, most vending problems aren’t really equipment problems— they’re system issues.
That’s where our backgrounds in engineering, design, and manufacturing come in.
A Travel Clothing Startup and Harley Davidson
Our careers started with me managing the product end of a clothing startup in Minneapolis, and Jacob working at Harley Davidson and Andersen Windows before settling into his dream job in 3D printing (*additive manufacturing) where he has been for 10 years. My path took me to Target Corporate and a small Leather Goods Manufacturer before redirecting me into full-time motherhood for the past 5 years.
Books like The Lean Startup, The Toyota Way, and The Goal (IYKYK) were formative in our understanding that small decisions about process have a compounding effect in a supply chain. This continuous improvement— Kaizen— plays out in seemingly menial ways when it comes to our vending operations, that all add up to making things run like clockwork and ready to scale.
It’s in the 5 different cart options we’ve tried for the smoothest and most ergonomic transfer of wares— and the one we’re still planning on designing custom. It’s in the custom 3D printed containers for our hard-boiled eggs so they always arrive safely. Our simple and efficient system of bins and crates for organizing inventory from warehouse, to van, to machine. Our careful calculation of what balance of best-sellers will make our stocking trips the most worthwhile, so we can always be on top of it. And of course, our market understanding that perfectly-curated-to-location real-food options alongside fun little treats and energy boosts will keep things moving at a clip that keeps all of the machinery greased and customers happy.
All of this adds up to the most visible attribute for our partners: consistency. Weeks don’t go by with low stock. Machines don’t feel forgotten.
What’s Under the Hood of a “Vending Revolution?”
The combination of new technologies that allow for better real-time inventory tracking, innovations in machine automation and software, and our combined experience in back-end logistics makes our service a stand-out in the industry. An industry that, by design, attracts a lot of people who see an “easy buck.” Yet, from the customer and location partner end, it still feels drab, disappointing, and disorganized.
Our difference is that we came to this business through the needs of the customer, and see the industry as it exists now through the lens of people, design, engineering, and logisitics— exciting problems to solve.
We understand switching vendors and moving out old machinery is a big weight to bear. It feels disruptive, and it’s one more contract and leap of faith. We make that leap worth it. If you’re curious what this could look like in your space, we’d be glad to walk you through it— no pressure, just possibilities.
