April_2022 - 36

With cell service out for weeks, Josh would return to the
office after each day's machine rescue missions and leave
a note for his father, instructing him which machines to
OPERATION PROFILE
Giambra Vending
Founded: 2005
Headquarters: Panama City, FL
Number of Routes: 2
Number of acquisitions: 12
Number of vending machines: 380
Number of Micro Markets: 1
Tech/equipment providers: Parlevel Systems,
Seaga, Vendors Repair, Vendors Exchange,
D&S Vending Inc.
Distributors: Coca-Cola United, Stacy Williams,
Petrey Wholesale, Vistar, Performance
Foodservice, Buffalo Rock, Sam's Club
service and which were beyond salvageable.
" In three hours, we lost a third of our business, which
we had worked so hard for, " he said. " All we could do was
do things old-school on paper and get the machines that we
could filled. "
It took three weeks to take inventory of all 330 machines.
The operators were forced to move 100-plus machines, some
working, many not, out of shuddered buildings and those
under construction, all within a few months. Giambra just
picked up the last two machines damaged by the hurricane
at a building where the elevator was only recently repaired.
LESSONS LEARNED
The operators learned how to best prepare for the inevitable
hurricanes in the future and have their protocols in place.
Instead of having a three-day supply of water and food on
hand, they will have enough to last at least a week.
In the event of an impending hurricane, Giambra will
also pull all snacks from its glass-front machines and shut
them down. " It's not feasible to bring all machines back
to our warehouse, or we would have that as the plan, "
Giambra commented.
The operators have also installed cameras in their wareDot's
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house so they will know if power is out for four hours or
more and dispose of any refrigerated food.
The operators also take pictures of their trucks, machines
and warehouse when a storm threatens for insurance purposes
and now have loss of income insurance.
" We now train our employees how to go 'old school'
without technology if power is out, " he said. " They know
the most important thing is to make sure their families
are safe should anything happen. Then, if we can make it
to the office, we'll leave hand-written notes to each other
to communicate. "
TECHNOLOGICAL LEAP
Just before the hurricane, Giambra had partnered with
Parlevel Systems to implement its vending management
system and make the move to install cashless readers.
" I give Parlevel hearts, asterisks and stars for moving
us to a VMS and cashless, along with micro markets and
soon prekitting. I'm in love with them! " Giambra exclaimed.
" When it was me and my dad and 50 machines, we used
sticky notes and pens. When there are other people involved
and 100-plus machines, Excel spreadsheets would take years
for us to ever know if we're short. Parlevel can go to the
nickel what should be in the machine. "
With the VMS in place, Parlevel facilitated the company's
move to cashless with a scalable approach, since outfitting all
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