Sally Cohen, Author at GAD Vending

Crane Merchandising Systems Launches Next Generation MEDIA2 Platform, Featuring Powerful Performance, Engaging Experience

11/02/2019

Crane Merchandising Systems, a Crane Co. company, and the leading global manufacturer of innovative solutions for vending machines, cashless systems, enterprise software solutions, and wireless communications, announced today the launch of MEDIA2, the newly redesigned user experience for vending.

MEDIA2 delivers enhanced performance with faster touch responsiveness on its larger 9” screen, smooth full-motion video playback, improved dimensional graphics, and increased storage capacity. To enhance service team efficiency, boot time is now less than a minute.

“We leveraged knowledge provided by thousands of MEDIA machines in the field, and excellent feedback from vending operators to deliver a powerful performing machine with a truly engaging experience for consumers,” said Kirn Reis, Vice President and General Manager of Cold Drink, Snack and Food. “With improved screen performance, suggestive selling, and advertising features, MEDIA2’s average daily sales in our trials were consistently 23 percent higher than original MEDIA.”

The new intuitive user interface is designed to influence consumer behavior with suggestive selling through a patent-pending recommendation engine. Operators can highlight specific products by placing them into the “Featured Products” category which is ideal for exposing new product to consumers and promoting slow movers. Over a four-week trial period, the new suggestive selling feature more than doubled targeted item sales for a traditionally low-selling product.

The additions of full motion video and sponsored product suggestions allow MEDIA2 to takes Crane’s innovative digital advertising experience to a new height. Brand companies and vending operators now have four unique opportunities to advertise throughout the vending process.

As with earlier MEDIA products, vending operators have the opportunity to earn incremental revenue by signing up to participate in over-the-air managed advertising campaigns. Crane’s advertising program has delivered significant results over the past two years and offers the ability to influence more than 12 million consumers monthly in the US alone.

The new generation of MEDIA2 products also offers Crane’s remote management services. This allows operators manage their machines on the go, reducing costly visits to machines, improving efficiency, and keeping content fresh for consumers.

About Greater America Distributing

Greater America Distributing is a authorized distributor of Crane Co. (NYSE:CR). Greater America Distributing is a privately owned distributor dealer and servicing company of vending, digital music, arcade games, pinball and ATM’s to commercial and residential customers. Greater America Distributing has offices located in Nebraska, Kansas City and Iowa.

About Crane Merchandising Systems

Crane Co. is a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial products. Crane Co. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:CR).

One of its segments, Crane Merchandising Systems, designs and manufactures a diverse, yet integrated portfolio of automatic merchandising equipment across multiple verticals, including hot and cold beverage, snack, and food. It also offers other vending solutions including cashless processing, payment devices, vending management software and wireless communication technology. Its legacy of brands (Automatic Products®, Dixie Narco®, GPL®, National Vendors™, Stentorfield™ and Streamware®) enables Crane to provide customers a complete, cross-platform solution while maintaining innovation, quality and service.

7th January 2021

Covid-19: Crane Vending Machine Maintenance and Hygiene Tips

Covid-19: Crane Vending Machine Maintenance and Hygiene Tips https://gadvending.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/covid-1.jpg 359 237 GAD Vending GAD Vending https://gadvending.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/covid-1.jpg 7th January 2021 30th December 2020

As businesses across the Midwest slowly come out of lockdown, by necessity we now have to work out how best to handle tasks we may have previously taken for granted. COVID-19 has caused a rapid change in consumer perceptions of the devices around us, including vending machines. As the vending world adjusts to the new norms and expectations, as a company that is committed to safety from its origins, we wanted to give you some tips on how to restart your vending and OCS business safely.

Vending machines are very safe and here are the reasons why:

There is no need for human interaction when purchasing a drink or snack, machine surfaces and keypads are disinfected against viruses
Vending machine operators, fillers and technicians place food safety and hygiene as top priorities in their daily service, and are trained in both personal hygiene and protection against infections.
Touch screens can be used to remind consumers how to protect themselves from the virus and the importance of maintaining social distance in front of the machines
Single use cups are the most hygienic method of consuming a beverage on the go
Contactless payment with a card or phone is preferred by consumers because they don’t have to touch the card machine’s keypad
The products cannot be handled before being purchased unlike other retail environments such as supermarkets.

How do I keep my machines COVID-19 safe?

Utilize the machines’ touch screens to communicate to the user how to use the vending machine and the W.H.O health safety requirements. You can combine this with other communication channels commonly used in your organization or business. If your machines don’t have touch screens you can use the lower and upper photographic panels of the machine or appropriate spaces located in the payments area for pre-printed.

You can apply social distancing floor signs on the floor.

Which are the W.H.O requirements regarding health safety?

Users must keep the distances while waiting to use the equipment (at least 1 meter away from each user)
Use gloves and protective masks to protect themselves and the other users.
Leave immediately the area after the withdrawal of a drink or product and consume in another area

Hand sanitizer, gloves and mask are operator’s new best friends.

Before any filling or cleaning operation operators must wash their hands with soap and water, wear a protective mask and a new pair of disposable gloves. When operators are working on the machines must wash their hands often and thoroughly with soap and water, for at least 60 seconds. Carrying a travel size bottle of hand sanitizer makes it easy to disinfect their hands when soap and water are not available. We recommend to the operators not to touch their personal items such as mobile phones before/ while working on or stocking a machine. Phones and other objects used frequently should be decontaminated daily, using a 70% isopropyl alcohol spray or other disinfection method.

Make sure that your disinfectant solution has 70% alcohol (ethanol) or 0.1% chlorine-based (bleach).

Sources: I.S.S and W.H.O.

Which are the focus cleaning areas?

For touch screens/selection panels, it is recommended to use only isopropyl alcohol (with an alcohol percentage of at least 70%) and avoid other detergents that could damage the screen. Use a soft micro-fibre or lint-free cloth to gently wipe the screen. Dampen the cloth with water, glass or a screen lens cleaner to wipe the glass and dry.
Clean thoroughly the change-giver buttons and areas for inserting coins / accepting banknotes or credit cards.

Specific to Hot Drink Machines and OCS Machines:

Clean the cup catcher and drain pipe in the sanitizer solution. Rinse the components with clean water and dry thoroughly.
Wash the drip tray and grille thoroughly and sanitize using the diluted bactericidal cleaner solution.
Wipe clean cup stand and dispense area using a clean, damp sanitized cloth
Specific to Cold Drink/Snack/Food Machines:

Use glass cleaner and disposable towels to clean the glass inside/out.
Clean the front of monetary panel with a plastic cleaner. Don’t use ammonia based cleaners as it may cause premature crazing of the polycarbonate surface.
Delivery cup and Delivery Port must be cleaned inside out with a mild soap and water solution to remove any spills or residue. Don’t forget to wipe and dry.

How do I restart the machine after temporary shutdown?

The following instructions assume that your coffee machines has been switched off and inactive for an extended period.

Before starting on the machine, if a water filter is connected, either replace it or follow the filter manufacturer’s instructions on how to flush it.
Flush three (3) times the whole espresso system with hot water.
Place a suitable container under the dispense nozzles. Switch the machine ON and allow the machine to fill up and reach operating temperature.
Remove all the instant ingredient canisters and discard the old ingredients. Sanitize and dry the ingredient canisters and nozzles before replenishing them with fresh ingredients.
Remove the coffee bean hopper, discard all the beans and sanitize. Refit the hopper and replenish it with fresh beans.
Carry out a CoEx tablet clean.
Flush all pipework, mixing systems and CoEx brewer with fresh hot water using the internal service keypad.
Remove all mixing components and dispense pipes and sanitize them.
Clean and sanitize all surfaces inside and outside the machine including the door.
Refit all the mixing system parts, pipes and ingredient canisters.
Carry out another 2 system rinses.
Close the door, place a cup in the hot water vend position and vend four cups of hot water.
Test vend all drinks to ensure the quantity and high quality is as expected.
Your coffee machine is now ready for use.

The following instructions assume that your snack/cold drink machines has been switched off and inactive for an extended period

Thoroughly clean the machine and in particular the buttons, touchscreens and glass window.
Remove products and clean the interior shelves and dispensing area.
Check the stock for sell by dates. Replace products as necessary. If the machine was turned off and not refrigerated as normal, product quality may have suffered and need replacing.
Check the temperature is correct for the product range.

Between the last of the COVID lockdowns and winter snow, why not take the time to learn a new skill? Like how to participate in Pinball tournaments?

Many people think of pool, dart and Golden Tee as the only leagues to participate in but there is a huge number of people that play pinball for tournament play. The association is the International Flipper Pinball Association ( IFPA ). The IFPA website has lots of information, tutorials and links for rules, game play and how to participate in tournaments when they resume.

2020 IFPA Season Update and Beyond

As the 2020 season comes to a close, we wanted to provide updates on various IFPA-related campaigns that the IFPA Board of Directors has been discussing as we enter the 2021 season. We’ve received many emails from players on a wide variety of topics and hope to answer most of those questions below:

Last week the participants of the IFPA17 World Pinball Championship were notified that we have once again postponed the event, which had previously been rescheduled for May 2021. The new dates for IFPA17 are November 11-14, 2021, still to be held at the Pinball Asylum in Florida.

The IFPA has no plans to organize any State, Provincial or Country Championships for the 2020 season of play. This includes North America and Australia, where the IFPA collected sanctioning fees for the first 3 months of the 2020 season. We will be rolling over that prize money into the 2021 season; however, the WPPR points earned in 2020 will NOT apply to the 2021 season qualifying.

The IFPA has no plans to organize an IFPA Women’s World Championship for the 2020 season of play. We will push forward with the hope that the 2021 qualifying season will result in a championship tournament in early 2022.

With respect to the WPPR formula and the decay used to reduce the value of events over time, the IFPA has no plans to adjust that formula in any way. Our ranking system is not designed to adjust for random local or global events, and as such, no changes will be made. We continue to rebuild the rankings on about a monthly basis, so the rankings continue to show where players stand based on the rules according to our current WPPR formula.

Due to the lack of sanctioned tournament play available in the 2020 season, there wasn’t a chance for players to play their way into qualifying for the IFPA Stern Rewards Program. Thanks to the generosity of Stern Pinball, everyone who qualified for Stern Rewards based on the 2019 season will once again qualify for the 2020 season. In addition, any eligible players that moved up into the top 1000 due to the decay of past results will also qualify for the IFPA Stern Rewards Program for the 2020 season.

Most importantly, we wanted to address our process for once again sanctioning tournament and league play globally. While some regions are reopening or were not as severely impacted by the virus, we want to ensure that our plans to restart sanctioning are fair to all players. We rely on the expertise and guidance of our IFPA Country Directors and State and Province Representatives to understand the situation on a regional basis, and we are listening to their input regarding whether they feel that tournaments and leagues are possible and prudent based on the specific realities of their communities. We have been tracking this feedback from our reps and intend to wait until a majority of the world has approved moving forward with sanctioned events before we consider reopening. Currently, based on our metrics, only 12% have voted to approve resuming sanctioned tournament play.

We continue to move forward with the IFPA Challenge Rankings (ICR), with December as the final month of qualifying. We encourage players to sign up if they are looking to scratch that competitive pinball itch, with over $700 in cash and prizes available. Details on the ICR are available HERE.

Finally, we want to acknowledge that the 2020 season has been like no other in our organization’s history. We have said goodbye to iconic people, organizations, events, and locations. We have also seen pinball communities come together for support and connection, participating in the ICR and virtual tournaments, donating to fundraisers for pinball establishments, and continuing to stay connected through virtual events and livestreams. While the future is still uncertain, we feel confident that sanctioned competitive pinball will return, and together we can take it to new heights. In the meantime, stay home, stay safe, wash your hands, and wear a mask.