Direct or via an operator? 22 05 2007 - 03:50:45 PM

Whatever you choose, choose carefully...

Most people don’t even ask the question.  In fact they don’t understand it in the first place.  Here’s the bluffers guide;

Operators

Operators don’t tend to manufacture drinks or machines; they operate them (hence the name). The benefits, when you get the right operator and you ask the right questions is that you can get the top mix of equipment and a good service.  You won’t necessarily get the cheapest deal – they have to make a living after-all, but you do get someone who will take responsibility for supplying the machine and cleaning and filling it.

Pros

• Flexibility – an operator can provide servicing, maintenance and repair if you have a variety of machines installed across your site
• Local business supplying local companies, so response levels should be good and able to get a good understanding of your business and vending needs
• Going to an operator is ideal when you want, say, a snack machine, a hot and cold drinks machine and separate water coolers. Rather than dealing with half a dozen suppliers you can just deal with one person.
• If you are quite a sizable organisation you can also get a reasonable overall deal – the more machines and the higher the volume of sales the lower the overall contract price and highly profitable vending machines will allow them to maintain a less profitable service.

Cons

• Where it doesn’t tend to be such a great option is where you are a smaller site and if there is not much scope of the operator expanding his business with you or your parent company etc.
• To make any money it’s necessary that they charge a premium rate or put in very low cost equipment or ingredients – one way or another you may pay a price – quality, reliability service or high contract costs.  Like I say, they have to make a living.

Look out for;

- Second-hand machines

- Expensive monthly contract costs

- Ingredients supplied

- The real cup cost = contract price for machine plus cup cost

Direct

There are very few manufacturers who deal direct –

Mars Drinks are a notable exception at least with some of their range. 

Direct means you are dealing with the people who actually design and manufacture their own kit and, hopefully, produce the drinks and if you are lucky are also responsible for the service of the machines (they would actually be the best people to service the machines even if you went via an operator).

For ‘Direct’ to work for you, you need to know that one call will do it all – machine, drinks service the lot – it should work out more responsive and perhaps cheaper too.  But it won’t work for all (see the above notes about how complex your vending requirements are.)

Here are the pro’s and cons;

Pros

• You can’t beat going back to the source – if they built them they know how to fix them and with no middlemen in the way it should be quicker response service too
• If their service team offers national coverage your more likely to get a first time fix from a technical visit – they should have all the kit with them
• Great if you only want drinks vending and this is all they do (not so great if you need a whole variety of vending, unless they are able to act as an honest broker)

Cons

• Going direct will lead to complications if you are under contract to a catering company – it’s best to carry on dealing through them (unless the relationship is pretty terminal).

Really this revolves around how many different forms of vending you need.