Fuzzy logic based replenishment system for smart paper dispensing machine

Existing replenishment system in vending machines can only periodically review the inventories. Moreover, current vending machines are not capable of determining if the supplies are subject to replenishment or not. This result to an inefficient replenishment policy and there will be frequent stock-out among the products. This research aims to develop a smart vending machine that provides inventory and logistic support for the operator. The intelligent system is controlled by a fuzzy system which outputs the crisp values which will be represented by the Resupply Alert Index (RAI), a decimal number representation that ranges from 0–3 with 0 as ‘urgent’ status and 3 as ‘ok’ status; this gives the operator which of the supplies needs replenishment. By implementing this study, stock-out among the vending machines will be prevented and an efficient replenishment system will be implemented. The application used for the implementation of this system is a paper dispensing machine that covers the demand in the Faculty of Engineering of the University Of Santo Tomas and compared with other virtual simulations. Through the simulations, it was established that the RAI can give the supplier the information of which vending machine and which of its products has the highest replenishment urgency.