VJ Technology is a UK-based distributor of construction fixings, fasteners, tools, and building consumables. Founded over 30 years ago and headquartered in Ashford, Kent, the company employs roughly 165 people and maintains more than £6 million of products in stock with nationwide next-day delivery. Think of them as the UK equivalent of Fastenal or Grainger, serving construction and civil engineering firms across the country.

What makes VJ Technology's story remarkable isn't the products they sell. It's how they sell them. 

Why traditional construction deliveries weren't working

For years, VJ Technology operated like most distributors in the construction supply chain. Orders were picked and packed in a central warehouse, loaded onto trucks, and delivered to job sites. The problem was that construction sites are sprawling, chaotic environments. Deliveries would arrive and sit unattended. Materials would get lost, thrown in a cupboard, or stolen outright. Project crews would find themselves waiting on supplies that had technically already been delivered but couldn't be located. 

"Eight to ten percent of our orders were falling into that area," said Mark Pettit, VJ Technology's Chief Commercial Officer. For a business doing tens of millions in annual revenue, that's a significant operational drag, not just in lost product, but in delayed projects, frustrated customers, and repeated deliveries that ate into margins. 

Pettit started looking for a way to make stock available directly on customer sites in a controlled, self-service format. Vending machines were an existing option, but they can't accommodate sledgehammers, wheelbarrows, and sheets of plasterboard. He needed something bigger and more flexible. 

How shipping containers became autonomouse self-service stores

The answer was a shipping container. 

VJ Technology developed the VJ iStore, an autonomous, container-based system that turns a standard 20- or 40-foot shipping container into a fully operational, self-service store. Each container is stocked with the tools and materials a particular job site needs, and customers can browse, order, and collect items 24/7 without a single VJ employee on site. 

At the center of it all is RemoteLock, which provides the secure access control that makes the entire system work. 

An authorized user logs into the VJ iStore web shop or mobile app, sees what's available in their local container, and places an order. They book a collection time, and the system generates a unique, time-limited access code through RemoteLock's API. When the user arrives and enters the code, the lock opens, the interior lights switch on, alarm systems deactivate, and AI-enabled CCTV cameras begin recording. The user collects their items and walks out. The moment the door closes, the one-time code expires, the cameras stop, and the alarms rearm. Billing is handled automatically based on exactly what was taken. 

"It's effectively like a pop-up shop," Pettit said. "And it's all wrapped around the RemoteLock platform."

Smart lock hardware that adapts to any job site

One of the advantages of building on RemoteLock is hardware flexibility. VJ Technology started with battery-powered Wi-Fi lever locks and has since moved to powered locks to reduce maintenance. For third-party clients using storage units, they use TTLock Bluetooth padlocks with Wi-Fi repeaters. Their newest builds are moving to door controllers with electric releases. All are managed through RemoteLock, giving VJ Technology a single dashboard for every lock across every site. 

How RemoteLock powers multi-level access control and on-site security

The iStore supports multiple levels of user access. A master user has full scan-and-go privileges. A standard user can shop and check out independently. A restricted user can fill a virtual cart but needs supervisor authorization before a code is generated. And a view-only user can see inventory but can't initiate a transaction. 

Every transaction is tied to a unique guest code that RemoteLock generates and revokes automatically. Time windows can be as narrow as two minutes. Internal drivers who handle restocking get static codes valid across their regional routes. 

Security extends well beyond the lock. Each container is equipped with alarm systems, movement and vibration sensors, and AI-enabled CCTV. Every collection is video-recorded and tied to the transaction record, giving both VJ Technology and their customers a complete access log and digital proof of delivery. 

The result: shrinkage across all stores sits below 0.5%, far under the 2% Pettit originally budgeted for. "When you walk in, the first thing you see is a great big screen with four video feeds of you on it," he said. "It kind of self-polices." 

Cost savings, faster payments, and higher customer spend

By replacing daily deliveries with self-service containers restocked every three to four weeks, VJ Technology has achieved: 

• 50% reduction in warehouse picking and packing time, since customers now pick their own orders in real time.
• 75% savings in delivery time and transportation costs, with a corresponding reduction in carbon emissions.
• Faster payment cycles, because every transaction comes with automated, digital proof of collection.
• Increased customer spend, as clients consolidate purchases with VJ Technology rather than waiting on competitor deliveries. Once a container is on site, customers routinely expand from 100 product lines to 130 or 140.

VJ Technology currently operates over 35 containers on construction sites across the UK, with roughly 10 more deployed for third-party SaaS clients. They're adding two new stores per month and expect to surpass 50 live locations by the end of 2026. 

How VJ Technology launched a SaaS platform from a supply chain fix

The success of the iStore led Pettit to launch a technology spinoff. Sellfware Technology is a separate SaaS company that licenses the platform behind the iStore, called Opus, to businesses in other industries. The software comes pre-integrated with RemoteLock's API and supports alarm and camera integrations out of the box. 

Sellfware has been selling commercially for about nine months and is already gaining traction in the UK, Europe, and the US. VJ Technology is also exploring new verticals, from cruise liners and university dormitories to unmanned village convenience stores, anywhere a known group of users needs 24/7 access to goods in a secure, monitored space. 

"It's a growth engine for us in selling more fixings," Pettit said, "but also a growth engine in selling the solution to other companies across different sectors."

The versatility of RemoteLock's platform

RemoteLock is best known as an access control platform for vacation rental and multifamily properties, but the platform's versatility means we're constantly discovering new and innovative use cases that our customers come up with.  

VJ Technology's autonomous store network is a perfect example: the same API-driven access control that manages guest check-ins at a beach house is generating one-time codes for construction workers picking up power tools from a shipping container in Kent. 

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