In order for spirits distilleries to run effective, profitable businesses, warehouse managers must be able to manage distillery cask movements efficiently and effectively. Yet when these managers are responsible for the movements of thousands of casks, manually managing processes can prove almost impossible. Paper-based processes are prone to costly errors and mistakes, while warehouse workers find it difficult to find required casks. Deciphering scribbled, hand-written notes also makes locating casks a major challenge, and it means there’s no way to gain a true, accurate picture of all stock across a distillery site. Inventory checks take weeks at a time, and warehouse efficiency decreases as a result. There’s also the very real risk that, because of data mistakes or human error, the incorrect casks can be used in blending operations – and casks can even be removed from the warehouse when they shouldn’t be. Such events can clearly have a potentially catastrophic impact on operations. Surely there must be a better way?
The Solution:
The use of scanning solutions to record barrel movements provides managers with much greater control of their stocks and casks, increasing efficiency of warehouse processes, while also improving accuracy of stock data. DRAMScan is a cask scanning module for DRAMS, which runs on any wireless hand-held device, linking seamlessly with the core DRAMS system. Replacing paper-processes with barcodes and scanning devices means workers are able to work more effectively: they simply have to point and click to record cask locations, which means they can accurately scan thousands of casks per day. As soon as a cask is scanned on the warehouse floor, data is immediately uploaded to DRAMS via Wi-Fi, which provides managers with a more holistic overview of their stocks. Indeed, DRAMScan users can easily view any pending transactions, providing details of any casks that have failed validation, and a full transaction history. Additionally, when stock is selected for a blending operation or removal, the scanners act as a safety measure, ensuring the correct casks are removed. Using the DRAMScan module thus helps optimise spirit production, staff working processes and warehouse utilisation; saving organisations money, making staff happier, and helping consistently create high quality spirits that customers love.