While many companies force IT departments to fill out order forms before new computer parts can be installed on PCs, Facebook has made it incredibly simple for employees to get their hands on the parts they need. All they have to do is to visit a nearby vending machine to get new keyboards, mice, laptop batteries, earphones or anything else they might need.

Any time that a Facebook engineer happens to break a keyboard or mouse (perhaps by spilling a drink on the peripheral), all they need to do is to visit one of the custom-built vending machines, swipe their badge and key in their selection.

The idea was dreamed up by Facebook CIO Tim Campos, whose previous idea involved employees swiping their badge at a digital kiosk to record which items they took from supply cabinets. However, not all employees recorded the items that they took. The idea for the vending machines came from Campos’ assistant, who discovered a vending machine at an airport that dispensed iPods.

The vending machines, which arrived at Facebook’s Palo Alto, Calif. headquarters in June, have helped to reduce the cost of managing replacement accessories by 35 percent. Although there is no cost to the employee for replacing a computer part, the price of each item is clearly marked in the vending machine so that employees can view the retail value of the item that they take. Campos hopes that the requirement to swipe badges before an item is dispensed means that abuse of the system should be kept to a minimum.

Facebook has installed 3 of the vending machines so far and Campos says that if the trial continues to go well then 2 machines per floor will be installed at the company’s new Menlo Park headquarters. According to Fortune, the machines could also dispense higher-value items such as phones and PCs in the future.

“Now 100% of employees have to badge in, and there’s better accountability on what people are taking,” says Campos. “More importantly, it’s just cool. Employees love to see these machines.”