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In an effort to place industrial products ever closer to customers, Fastenal has launched FAST P.O.D., or Products-on-Demand, essentially a mini-Fastenal store that complements the company’s 2,500+ branch locations nationwide. “The original idea was to service markets that were too small for Fastenal to put a brick-and-mortar store,” says FAST Solutions executive president Gary Polipnick.

At first glance, the FAST P.O.D. looks like a typical blue shipping container. But inside is essentially an unmanned hardware store, with the company’s rapid-selling FAST Solution vending machines that dispense a range of industrial products. Providing a secure, controlled environment, the P.O.D.s can be placed at a job site, manufacturing facility or rural location where the company doesn’t have a physical presence.

Fastenal’s vending machines are basically everywhere. The company surpassed 60,400 installed by mid-October. But they aren’t always great for a site such as construction, where they would be subject to damage and the outdoor elements. A major feature of the P.O.D.s is secure access in a controlled environment, providing peace of mind for the user. A P.O.D. can be set to remain open during working hours, and can still be accessed outside of that timeframe by using its outside intercom, which alerts Fastenal’s help desk and to let that person in. The P.O.D.s come with security cameras, locks and an HVAC unit. Users can customize the machines inside a P.O.D. and the products inside them, and contracted customers don’t have to pay each time they need a product from it.

With other large industrial distributors like Grainger and MSC Industrial also offer their own vending machines, but evidenced by this latest offering, Fastenal appears to still be at the forefront in getting product closer to the customer.

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