Hensing uses Vendon Cloud to manage purchasing and refill routes across several hundred vending machines. By combining real-time stock, sales, expiry and transaction data, the company now services more machines with fewer people per route, creates reports within seconds and plans to automate purchasing through an inventory system integration.
From One Person to Several Thousand Vending Systems
Hensing began in 2010 with Dirk Hensing calling several hundred farmers from his living room every Monday.
His idea was simple: help farmers sell eggs and other products directly through vending machines.
Today, Hensing employs almost 70 people, operates across six business areas, manages several hundred machines through its own operations and subsidiary, and has delivered several thousand vending systems to customers.
But every new machine added more work.
More products to purchase. More refill routes to organise. More expiry dates to track. More sales figures to report.
A small fleet can run on experience. Several hundred machines cannot.
By the end of 2016, Hensing needed a clearer way to answer four questions:
What has sold? What is still in stock? What needs refilling? What should happen next?
Hensing’s results at a glance
- More machines serviced with fewer people per route
- Several hundred machines managed across its operations
- Several thousand customer systems delivered
- Reports generated within seconds
- Almost 70 employees across six business areas
Why Managing Several Hundred Machines Became More Difficult
Karmatec, Hensing’s subsidiary, had to coordinate the complete restocking of several hundred vending machines.
Without current stock and sales information, refill teams risked visiting machines too early, arriving after products had sold out, or carrying stock that was not needed.
Purchasing faced the same problem.
Too much of a slow seller increased the risk of expired products. Too little of a strong seller meant missed sales before the next refill.
Hensing’s Herr Anton franchise network added another requirement. The company receives a defined percentage of franchise revenue, so it needed accurate sales figures for billing and regional comparisons.
Reporting also had to cover selected weeks, months, and years, including VAT rates of 7% and 19%.
The difficulty was not one dramatic failure.
It was the pressure of making thousands of small decisions across several hundred machines—without allowing every new location to create the same amount of new manual work.
Purchasing Based on What Is Actually Selling
Hensing began working with Vendon at the end of 2016.
Vendon Cloud gave its teams a live view of three facts that now guide purchasing:
- how much stock remains;
- how much has sold;
- which products are approaching their best-before date.
That changed the conversation from “What do we usually order?” to “What do the machines actually need?”
A slow-moving product can be stocked in smaller quantities. A strong seller can be replenished before it runs out. Products nearing expiry can be identified and replaced earlier.
Hensing also uses transaction records to compare best-sellers and slow movers across months, years, seasons, regions, weather conditions, and holidays.
This helps the company decide which products deserve more space and which should be removed.
Dirk Hensing says those comparisons “would simply not be possible without Vendon.”
The result is not simply better reporting.
It is better purchasing across several hundred machines.
“Our entire purchasing process is managed through Vendon.”
— Dirk Hensing, Managing Director, Hensing
More Machines on Every Route
The strongest operational result came from Hensing’s refill routes.
The company reorganised them using current machine information instead of treating every location as equally urgent.
Teams could see which machines needed stock before leaving the warehouse. That made it possible to focus time, people, and products where they were actually required.
The impact was direct:
“We were actually able to service more vending machines while reducing the staffing required per route.”
— Dirk Hensing, Managing Director, Hensing
For an operator managing several hundred machines, that changes more than driving time.
It allows each team to cover more of the fleet without staffing every new route at the same level.
That gives Hensing room to grow without allowing refill operations to grow equally complex.
Faster Answers Across the Business
The same machine data now supports work beyond purchasing and refills.
Reports for selected machines and periods can be generated within seconds and exported as PDFs for tax advisers or authorities.
The data also helps Hensing calculate its agreed share of revenue within the Herr Anton franchise network and compare performance between regions.
When a supported machine has a problem, the team can attempt a remote restart before sending someone to the location.
Each use follows the same principle:
See what is happening before deciding what to do.
The next step is to connect Vendon Cloud with Hensing’s inventory management system through an API. That will allow more purchasing work to happen automatically using the same stock, sales, and expiry information the company already trusts.
Hensing has grown from one person in a living room to almost 70 employees and several thousand customer systems.
Vendon Cloud did not create that growth.
It gave Hensing the control to manage it.
Looking to Achieve Results Like Hensing?
Discover how Vendon Cloud helps vending operators reduce manual work, improve replenishment, and make faster decisions with real-time machine data.
About this case study: This customer story is based on an interview with Dirk Hensing, Managing Director of Hensing. Statements and operational results were provided by the customer.
How does Hensing use Vendon Cloud?
Hensing uses Vendon Cloud for real-time stock and sales monitoring, cash control, route planning,reporting tools, and remote machine restarts.
How does Hensing reduce the risk of expired products?
Its teams use stock, sales and best-before-date information to identify products earlier, replace them in time and reduce future refill quantities when products sell slowly.
How many vending machines does Hensing manage?
Hensing manages several hundred machines through its own operations and subsidiary. It has also delivered several thousand vending systems to customers.
*All answers are supported by the interview.
