Numerous news outlets are reporting that fastener giant Fastenal has bought certain assets of vending specialist Apex Industrial Technologies.
Yahoo Finance reports that Fastenal has comprehensively bought key patents, designs, software and licences from Apex, including direct access to the supply chain.
Both companies have worked together for a number of years, with Apex supplying product dispensing devices for Fastenal for over a decade.
Product dispensing devices and vending machines are key to Fastenal's offering - the firm installed its 100,000th active industrial vending device worldwide in 2019. They played a key role in Fastenal achieving a sales rise of 7.4% last year.
Back in the mists of time (2016), Torque spoke with Apex on how automated dispensing tech can boost efficiency.
