Thanks to the incorporation of IoT sensors, Eboca’s warehouse in Huesca is connected at all times with the vending machines and can obtain real-time information on what each terminal needs.
Eboca is synonymous with revolution in the vending world. It is so because it showed, first, that there are people behind the machines. Then because it made technology its flagship to improve processes and customer service.
The company from Huesca has been a leader in the world of vending and coffee machines in Aragon for 35 years. In recent years, it has given a new twist to the rest areas through innovation in vending terminals and the reinvention of machine coffee. The adoption of telemetry for the entire fleet of machines (from the management and operation system to mobile payment) has allowed the company to grow and expand its business.
The commitment to technology dates back to 2008, when Eboca telematically connected the more than 200 machines with which they provided service at the Zaragoza Expo site, where they were concessionaires of the service. It was a «primitive» service but it gave them the experience to start a research process. In 2015, they began the digitalisation of logistics and service operations and in 2018, they continued with after-sales, spare parts management and the warehouse.
In 2019 they completed the renovation of the warehouse in Huesca and since then they have the most modern facilities in the sector. From Huesca they daily prepare the products that are transferred to all the machines they have distributed throughout the territory. Telemetry allows them to be connected in real time to the vending terminals to know the sales made by each machine and their replenishment needs.
Raúl Benito, president and founder of Eboca, is a faithful defender of telemetry because what cannot be measured, does not exist; and Eboca has used telemetry to improve productivity, anticipate «failures and continuously supervise the state of the machine, knowing in real time the incidents and possible causes, to be able to solve them instantly».
«We know in real time a large part of the technical incidents, which allows us to anticipate operating problems, reducing them by 43%. We are able to organise our daily work by anticipating stock breaks and reducing them by 63%,» explains Manuel Torres, commercial director of Eboca.
Pick to Light System
Eboca uses the Pick to Light logistics solution. The operator knows quickly and intuitively, through illuminated lights, the location and the exact number of units of the operation to be carried out.
«The system calculates to which customers the order has to be sent and exactly how much has to be carried. The labels that go on the boxes are printed out, stuck on the box, and then tagged with the gun. The information on how many products to put in the basket lights up and the lights go out when the basket is filled», explains Raúl Benito, president and founder of Eboca. In this way, each box resulting from the pick to light is a unique and non-transferable order per machine.
They have a 60-square-metre refrigerator that allows them to maintain the cold chain throughout the entire process and enables them to carry out the same pick-to-light process, but with isothermal boxes manufactured specifically for Eboca. «We are able to handle fresh products such as natural juices, yoghurt with fruit and fresh fruit, sandwiches, snacks, salads… always taking care of their expiry dates», explains the president of Eboca, Raúl Benito.
The fleet of vans, which are Eboca’s own, are filled with exactly what each machine needs. This way they achieve zero stock after a day’s delivery. The system allows them to avoid unnecessary journeys, reducing the number of kilometres travelled by 29%, which means less expenditure on fuel, vehicle maintenance and working hours, as well as a significant reduction in our carbon footprint. «We have reduced our costs of receiving goods and preparing orders by 34%,» explains Eboca’s commercial director, Manuel Torres.
Eboca is a pioneer in Spain in using telemetry in an integral way for the vending sector. «We are not doing this because at Eboca we like technology, which we do too, it is done so that our customers can enjoy a wider range, more products and more variety. In this way, the management of lower turnover is not a problem for us and we can attend to them and take better care of them during their work breaks», argues Raúl Benito.
I don’t have any coins, can you invite me?
With this passion for positioning itself as the most technological vending company, Eboca launched the Eboca Wallet cash less payment system in 2016. With this app, the excuse of not having pennies on hand to pay for your coffee is a thing of the past.
Eboca Wallet can be used in all the company’s machines and allows you to pay for coffees and snacks without coins, just by touching the terminal with your mobile phone. This payment system, which also accumulates points per use, will incorporate new features in the coming weeks, making contactless payment even easier.
Five years ago, Eboca brought its first machines to Lérida, where more than 30 companies already enjoy its vending services. Now, Eboca is in the process of expanding the company through franchises, sharing all its product, management, technology and know-how. Since 2020, the Aragonese company has been committed to this business model and it was in August of that same year when it placed its first terminals in the Cofrentes nuclear power plant (Valencia).
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