Patent ID: 7894938

Claim:
A system-implemented method for scheduling service for a plurality of vending machines to select those vending machines which are to be serviced in a predefined service period, the system comprising hardwired and/or software programmed circuitry, the method comprising operations of: (1) determining, by said circuitry, a service priority indicator of each of a plurality of vending machines; (2) determining, by said circuitry, a scheduling priority for each of a plurality of subroutes, each subroute being a set of one or more vending machines, at least one of the subroutes comprising a plurality of vending machines separated by driving times, wherein determining the scheduling priority of each subroute comprises adding, by said circuitry, the service priority indicators of the subroute's plural vending machines and determining the scheduling priority as a function of a sum of the service priority indicators of the subroute's vending machines; (3) selecting, by said circuitry, a subroute S 1 for service by using the scheduling priorities, the subroute S 1 being one of the plurality of the subroutes; (4) selecting, by said circuitry, one or more vending machines for service in the subroute S 1 in said service period; wherein each vending machine which is not selected is deselected for service in said service period.