An apparatus for dispensing discrete items into a multiplicity of containers such that each of the multiplicity of containers contains at least a predetermined number of items, the apparatus comprising: a conveyor for transporting items from a feeder to a location from which the items fall into the container； a counting mechanism for counting a number of items that have fallen off the conveyor into the container during operation of the conveyor and due to inertial forces after the operation； an actuator for operating or stopping the conveyor in accordance with control commands； and a computing platform for receiving a count from the counting mechanism and generating the control commands to be provided to the actuator.
