The challenge

Tightening inventory controls to enhance profits

Controlling the inventory levels of office supplies and loose consumables can be an important element of profitability. Whether it’s personal protective equipment (PPE), cutting tools, maintenance supplies, or loose components such as cutting tools, drills, and fittings, businesses need to have everything they require on hand, while ensuring materials aren’t being wasted. For many businesses, excess storage of unneeded supplies, combined with waste from overuse and theft, can add up to significant additional costs. Many businesses, to better control inventory, have started using vending machines that dispense supplies on demand.

One major U.S. supplier of loose consumable vending machines needed a more secure and reliable way to connect its machines in the field. Customers across the country use the machines to store and dispense supplies. Employees who need supplies simply input their employee number and the machine dispenses the requested item. Employees don’t pay for the supplies, but the vending machine system allows businesses to track and control the outflow of supplies. Businesses who use the service can right-size their inventory stores while minimizing losses by eliminating the need to overstock supplies and reducing theft.

However, these machines require internet connectivity to function. The cellular network connections the supplier was using proved to be cumbersome to deploy and manage. The cellular routers required antenna to be unobstructed, which meant the routers had to be installed on the outside of the machines. This made the routers vulnerable to theft and there was no way to track the location of the routers. If the routers were damaged or stolen, businesses were left with vending machines they couldn’t use.

With over 20,000 machines deployed with customers across the country, the supplier needed a more reliable wireless connection option that could be securely installed inside the machines. They also needed a way to manage and troubleshoot deployed wireless units remotely. Most importantly, it wanted the ability to track the location of vending machines if they were moved or went missing.

The solution

Complete control over inventory

To overcome these challenges, the supplier deployed the Inseego Skyus 160 Gateway to provide high-speed wireless connectivity for its vending machines. It also chose the Inseego Connect platform for simplified deployment and remote management.

The Skyus 160 Gateways provided the high-speed, remote connectivity in a lightweight and compact package that the supplier needed. The gateway’s plug-and-play capabilities allowed it to be easily and quickly deployed. With dual SMA external cellular antennas, the devices could be connected to a cellular network without exposing them to the risk of theft, ensuring they delivered fast connection speeds for the office vending machines reliably, no matter where they were deployed.

Inseego Connect simplified the deployment, monitoring, and management of every gateway. Remote configuration of device settings, combined with the ability to push widespread, pre-set configurations, allowed for much faster and more consistent deployment. GPS-based location services made it easy for the supplier to accurately track every deployed device with Inseego Connect, reducing the risk and cost of theft and improving inventory control. One-dashboard visibility into every device simplified remote tracking and troubleshooting of device performance, greatly improving the quality and efficiency of the supplier’s customer service offering.

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The value

Simplified logistics, improved customer service

By deploying Inseego’s Skyus 160 Gateway and managing devices via Inseego Connect, the supplier was able to offer its customers a more reliable high-speed internet connection for their inventory management systems and greater control over all deployed devices. The advanced capabilities of the Skyus 160 and Inseego Connect provided more accurate inventory management, reduced shrink, and improved profits.

Simplified device deployment, management, and troubleshooting has enabled the supplier to quickly onboard new clients and devices across the country. Management and troubleshooting are also more efficient, with the ability to review every device from one dashboard.

The rollout of the Skyus 160 and Inseego Connect has been so successful that the supplier is now integrating additional Inseego solutions to support more aspects of its operations. This includes the Inseego Wavemaker FW2000 5G Outdoor Router, which has been deployed to provide secondary internet connections to its data centers.