High Tech Vending Machines Transform IT Support At Facebook

Hugh Pickens writes "While getting power cords, replacement keyboards, and other sundry computer accessories to employees who need them sounds easy enough, at many companies the process requires filling out order forms that can take IT departments days to fulfill. That's why Facebook CIO Tim Campos decided to take a more user-friendly approach to this common problem, installing custom-made vending machines around the Facebook campus that dispense computer accessories instead of snacks and sodas. When Facebook engineers spill coffee on their keyboard (a common mishap), they head to a nearby vending machine instead of hitting up their IT guy or just grabbing a replacement from a nearby cabinet. They swipe their badge, key in their selection and voila — a brand new keyboard drops down for them to take. According to Campos, they've reduced the cost of managing replacement accessories by about 35%. While products found in the vending machines are free, items are clearly marked with price tags so employees can see the retail value of each accessory they take. The new vending machines also require all employees to swipe their badge before making a selection. That means each and every power cord, keyboard and screen wipe they take can be traced back to their name, ensuring that the system won't be abused. 'I like the assumption that employees will do the right thing,' writes Alexis Madrigal. 'The swipe means that everyone's requests are tracked and I'm sure some algorithm somewhere is constantly sorting the data to see if anyone has pulled 10 sets of headphones out of the system.'"

Comments

Same Typical Vending Problems?

[Umuri]

Do employees have to trek across campus to get the vending machine they like that stocks their particular favored model of headset, mouse or keyboard?(Model M preferably)
Do they sometime get stuck requiring quickly looking around to make sure no one is looking then banging the machine a few times?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Re:Same Typical Vending Problems?

[Molochi]

Model M keyboards were removed from the machines because they don't need to be replaced that often.

Re:Same Typical Vending Problems?

[spokenoise]

Hey Fred? Can I borrow your badge for a sec?

Re:Same Typical Vending Problems?

[ygslash]

Now Logitech can produce a commercial in which a short Facebook employee gets four or five Microsoft mice out of the machine, then stands on them in order to reach the higher-up button to get a Logitech mouse.

Re:Same Typical Vending Problems?

[MrNemesis]

Sorry, you're wrong. We removed the Model M's from our vending machines because when the keyboard dropped into the out-tray, it broke the vending machine in half and then dented the floor. :)

Intel has had these for years

[Anonymous Coward]

Intel has been using these, at least in our campus, for a few years now.

Re:Intel has had these for years

[frglrock]

So has Facebook apparently. The first article has the timestamp: "July 6, 2011: 8:55 AM ET"

The point the author of the second article, some two years later, seems to be making is that they actually trust their employees.

Easy resale!

[Artea]

The price tag idea is fantastic, I can steal Frank's badge, and grab myself 10 of everything. List it on ebay at the tagged price and make a nice bonus every week.

Re:Easy resale!

[lightknight]

Amazing, isn't it? All this technology, education, and one hell of a legal system, and people still steal. Weird, right?

And here's the funny thing. Most of the time they get away with it.

What more, there's no sure fire way to prevent theft, even if everyone had a chip in their heads, and a supercomputer was dedicated to thought crime. Even the most dedicate, read-only AI with the best intents would, IMHO, go completely nuts after several generations of exposure to humanity; you either have a drift of values from the time the AI was initialized (what was once a social vice is now not), or you have an accumulating error (good luck with that), or even spontaneous errors (a problem that the designers never imagined the AI would encounter, and CANNOT adapt around). Those are just a few of the possible error conditions.

Finally, we haven't considered, though this is way out here on the fringe branch, that morality is a weapon, used by groups to subjugate individuals to their agendas, whether it benefits them or not. I say this, because the first thing any would-be aggressor does is establish the moral high-ground in any given scenario, nullifies the current set of group beliefs and replaces it with their own, then directs the group against those now outside the group.

On the other hand, I am currently taking some migraine meds which have some fairly horrific side-effects (feels like my skin is on fire right now...like I'm in an oven), so perhaps I am not in the best frame of mind to consider the more philosophical points of civility tonight. Topamax is a crazy drug.

Re:Cost savings

[chaim79]

"Reduced the cost of managing replacement accessories by about 35%."

They are reducing the overhead of talking to a support person, them getting a part off the shelf, marking down that it has been removed by whom for whom for what reason, and all the rest. Something mentioned in the summary.

This is *Facebook* people, you're missing it

[TaoPhoenix]

Vending Machines, hmm?

How long until the vending system gets a Facebook page? Then when everyone orders Such&Such keyboard and headphones, the machine can post "Joe Smith Likes this!" Then they can sell that data to advertisers!

Do Vending Machines have Friends?

The fun never stops!

Re:This is *Facebook* people, you're missing it

[supersat]

You might be joking, but they already implemented this years ago on the office keg: http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/27/facebook-buzz/

Will it get stuck?

[WaterDamage]

Great, I guess the keyboard or whatever shitty peripheral will get stuck and then after beating and shaking the vending machine for 10 fucking minutes you'll end-up calling help-desk to complain that you swiped and you never got your item so they'll send out an vending service guy and spend $400/hr to fix the fucking crappy vending machine rather keep a stack of $2 dollar keyboards in a closet next to the receptionist or secretary. Then again It's Facebook, so I guess their developers/admins must jiz a lot all over their keyboards while they porn surf through user profiles of hot bitches.

Re:Will it get stuck?

[Samantha Wright]

I can do better than that: the photo supplied shows what appears to be standard SATA hard drives in no more protection than an anti-static bag. On the second row. Near the top.

*clunk*

*smash*

You keep using that word...

[niftydude]

'I like the assumption that employees will do the right thing,' writes Alexis Madrigal. 'The swipe means that everyone's requests are tracked and I'm sure some algorithm somewhere is constantly sorting the data to see if anyone has pulled 10 sets of headphones out of the system.'

I do not think that the word "assumption" means what Alexis thinks it means.

Re:I wonder what the savings are?

[isopropanol]

Acklands Grainger actually rents these machines out stocked with whatever you want that's relevant to your business... the display model in our local distributor has boxcutters, pens, high-viz vests, etc...

Re:how do they track jam's and double drops?

[DigiShaman]

Favorite IT story: So back in 1999, a traveling sales engineer drops his laptop off at my desk in a huff stating "it's broken, damn screen broke". Looking at the screen, it looks like something fell on the LCD screen and cracked it in three places. Oh, something fell on it alright. His fist! The angle and placement of three knuckles lined up perfectly with a right hand punch. My shock and dismay quickly followed by laughter. Ya right, broken my ass! It sure is now tough guy.

Common mishap?

[fahrbot-bot]

When Facebook engineers spill coffee on their keyboard (a common mishap),

I've been a system programmer/administrator for over 25 years and routinely eat and drink at my desk and have *never* spilled anything on my equipment - computer or otherwise. What kind of monkeys do they hire at Facebook?

Re:Common mishap?

[DigiShaman]

Fresh grads from the top Universities. Duh!

Re:Common mishap?

[the_B0fh]

Again, how many times do I have to tell you about using common sense on the Internet...?

How many keyboards do these guys go through?

[HockeyPuck]

Ok. So I'm assuming this is for people that aren't supporting datacenter based equipment. Y'know the guys that have to plug in thousands of powercords...

So if you're outfitting your cube/desk area, how many keyboards and power cords do you go through? Also, do most FB employees standardize on the 'vending machine' keyboard, or do they have their own personal preference?

Re:How many keyboards do these guys go through?

[Grayhand]

Ok. So I'm assuming this is for people that aren't supporting datacenter based equipment. Y'know the guys that have to plug in thousands of powercords...

So if you're outfitting your cube/desk area, how many keyboards and power cords do you go through? Also, do most FB employees standardize on the 'vending machine' keyboard, or do they have their own personal preference?

I can tell you I wear out a keyboard in about three months and before I switched to "cheapie" Logitech mice, $10 a pop, I was burning through expensive mice every other month. It all depends on how much work you do. After two months the "A" on my keyboard is badly worn and at three months a dozen keys are showing wear. I would say keyboard wear is a good sign of how much work you do. If you can last two or three years on a keyboard you are probably over paid.

Re:how do they track jam's and double drops?

[antifoidulus]

You just push the button for a keyboard, hoping that it will fall on top of the mouse you wanted and dislodge it.

Re:A cheaper, old school way

[jamesh]

Everyone gets the same computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and choice of supported OS so IT has a limited set of hardware/OS combinations to support. You break something, you get your ass to Fry's and buy the replacement on your own dime. You want something new and cool to try? You pay for it out of your own pocket. Need something different for a new project? You get your boss to budget it and work up a PO or buy it from Fry's and expense it on petty cash. You can save buy not having vending machines and paying IT staff to supply trinkets.

How is that cheaper?

If my keyboard on my work supplied computer breaks then it needs to be replaced. If I have to argue with someone about who's fault it is that it got broken, and therefore who's 'dime' needs to pay for my time to go down to Fry's and buy a replacement then a whole lot of time and money is getting wasted. And thats without factoring in the cost of the thing that broke, which most likely doesn't change the equation in any significant way.

I bet Facebook already did the math and your way isn't cheaper. You'd have to be a large enough company to make this idea scale, but Facebook is that.

Fastenall has offered this for years.

[Animats]

Facebook isn't being original here. Fastenall, which sells cutting tools, bolts, and other useful things used by people who make Real Stuff, has special vending machines for industrial plants. Employees use their employee badge or a PIN to get tools and supplies. The machines report back to Fastenall, and they restock the machines. The customer only pays for items when they're vended.

Here's the Youtube video. Fastenall vends electric drills and WD-40, rather than keyboards and cables. They have little machines for things like drill bits, and locker-sized bins for big items. So they're already doing what Facebook is only talking about.

I suspect

[codeButcher]

The swipe means that everyone's requests are tracked and I'm sure some algorithm somewhere is constantly sorting the data ...

So there's a screen on the front of the vending machine that displays targeted advertising then?

Another definition of swipe?

[jklovanc]

One could just "swipe" the desired accessory from someone else's desk. That would be much more difficult to track.

Sloppy writing by Slashdot

[Futurepower(R)]

They are not "High Tech Vending Machines". They are normal vending machines loaded with computer accessories. "Facebook CIO Tim Campos decided to take a more user-friendly approach" should be "a computer support employee recommended using vending machines", according to the story.