Uniform DEX Standards For Planet Antares Vending Operators

Vending operators are ready to blame the equipment manufacturers for not doing enough to standardize their DEX hardware and software. Some people think that the manufacturers did not adopt a set of standards and these are too broad. When NAMA said that people needed to send XYZ information, different manufacturers had different understandings of how to do it.

As a result, a few vending operators including Planet Antares vending operators want to see NAMA adopt more stringent DEX standards. Even several equipment manufacturers agree that standards can be improved to a certain extent. Some of the operators have had problems when they first tried to utilize DEX.

The DEX standards have been too broad in some cases. The more stringent ones may be able to sort out the problems that are being faced by some Planet Antares vending operators. Manufacturers have indicated that not all machines require that same type of data. Moreover, not all customers want the same information from the machine. There is risk of extra cost in excessive standardization without providing any additional benefits.

The big point of consideration is that standardization will not always assure Planet Antares vending operators that manufacturers will abide by new protocols. Some manufacturers even claim that competitors have not supported existing DEX standards. This itself is a judgment based on technical interpretation. Further, equipment manufacturers have pointed out that the task of gathering data in a usable form is one that should be handled by the software company only.

Even if additional standards are adopted by NAMA, like it is considering, manufacturers will add to that list for specific equipment needs. Whether minimum standards are essential to begin with is open to question, since many protocols are already being followed for the sake of convenience and simplicity.

Some DEX data tends to be standard in all vending machines including Planet Antares vending machines. These include:

• Coin mechanical fields
• Coin to tube
• Coin to coin box
• Coin from tubes
• Total coins
• Cash from validator
• Total vends
• Total cash