Afew years back, industry shop floors operated with tool cribs,warehouses and storerooms that were used by workers when there was ashortfall of components, tools or accessories. Most businesses facedproblems maintaining stock because of inefficiencies in there-ordering process.

Acommon solution used for all operating problems was the ?Point of Work (POW)? implementation.This has helped to streamline and control the distribution of directand indirect materials at the industrial site.

Itemsthat were commonly used in POW setup included basic materials likegloves, tools, fasteners, fitting and shop supplies. But it also hadits own share of limitations like rise in monitoring and control costand high inventory levels that proved very costly for the company.

Inrecent times, many organizations have started to adopt systems at the POW site to overcome challenges faced with thetraditional setup. Some examples for automated tool vending machinesare ? automated tool crib and automated machines.

TheEconomic and Operating benefits of automated distribution at POW are

1. Automatedstock replenishment, locker system and storage & retrievalsystems

2. Supportsintegration with other supply programs (those of vendors andsuppliers)

3. Simpledata collection process for Six Sigma and Lean initiatives

4. Providessecure cabinet systems

5. Helpsthe organization to realize direct cost savings with regard toconsumption, reordering, inventory levels, stock outs, downtime anddelays.

   Overall,industrial vending automation can be considered as the rightsolution for realizing high business growth.