New “SmartStore” Program Provides Corporate United Members with Premium Machines and Automated Replenishment for as Little as a Few Hundred Dollars a Month

Fastenal Company has joined forces with Apex Industrial Technologies to implement an industrial vending program for a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions. The new Fastenal SmartStore program provides Corporate United members with state-of-the-art vending for as little as a few hundred dollars a month, which includes implementation, machine usage, software hosting and automated replenishment services.

Low cost should not be confused with low quality. The SmartStore machines, which include a core multi-purpose unit, as well as specialized machines for heavier MRO items and RFID-tagged products, are built in the U.S. for heavy-duty industrial use.  The machines provide reliable dispensing, a wide range of product configurations and features that vending customers would expect from high-cost equipment.

As with most vending solutions, the key advantages of Fastenal’s SmartStore program are consumption control, improved usage visibility, and lower inventory and process costs. Users can automatically control who has access to specific products and how much they can use over time. They can also view real-time inventory levels and usage reports on any standard web browser. When a product dips below its targeted “min” inventory level, an automated order is e-mailed to the servicing Fastenal store for replenishment. The best part is, with most SmartStore programs, customers pay only for products once they are dispensed, reducing inventory costs without risking stock-outs.

Industrial vending typically allows businesses to reduce consumption of MRO vended items by 10 to 30 percent; according to Schroeder, some early SmartStore users have reportedly cut consumption by up to 30 percent during the first months of implementation.

To learn more about Fastenal’s SmartStore program, contact your Corporate United representative, or call 440-895-0938.