Vending machine company in Walsall adapting machines to dispense PPE
A company in the Black Country is working to adapt vending machines into dispensing personal protective equipment (PPE).
Coinadrink, based in Walsall, has offered to tailor the machines to businesses – allowing them to protect their workforce.
It will see the vending machines dispense masks, hand sanitiser and goggles as well as other items of PPE.
The company, which has supplying drinks machines since 1962, has been working with Kingswinford-based manufacturers Evoca Group on the project.
Tom Williams, sales, customer care and marketing manager at Coinadrink, said: "We're traditionally a vending machine operating business and we've been doing that for 58 years.
"And we've seen a need amongst the workplace to provide PPE for safety reasons.
"We've teamed up with a local manufacturer to allow business to provide it and to keep track on what people are using – and if they're using it.
"It's always been something that's been possible, but there's never been a great deal of demand. Vending machines are flexible so we new they can vend more than just food and drink."
Each user will be provided with a unique key, card or swipe card – depending on their need – with limits on how much each employee receives.
An override can be put a place for a more senior employee to allow them to take out more equipment if needed.
Mr Williams said the company, based on the Maple Leaf Industrial Estate, Bloxwich Lane, had been looking at doing the project for a few months.
And they are now able to showcase the vital equipment to their customers – as well as put it out for others to use.
But getting their hands on the equipment – as well as hand sanitiser – has proved to be difficult.
He said: "Difficult is an understatement – it's quite sparse and the people who are selling it are doing so at inflated prices.
"But the masks are starting to come back down in price now but hand sanitiser is still an issue, everything else is pretty standard."
Businesses looking to get a specially-adapted PPE dispenser should contact Coinadrink by visiting their website – with each quote unique.
