There are times when it might seem that small breweries do not have much in common with larger, international breweries outside of making beer. However there are a lot of shared goals, practices, and technologies. The resources and processes used by larger breweries can be implemented into smaller facilities, giving employees better working conditions and consumers a better product.
Matt Hook, the vice president of manufacturing operations for North America at MolsonCoors offered insight on how digital business effort differs between big and small breweries but by being on the same path can push the industry forward.
This includes new technologies like tablets and sensors that can bridge the gap from the analog era to modern times.
He emphasizes the importance of a strategic approach to data collection to avoid overload and ensure it enhances employee and customer experiences. Also important is the continuous evolution of digital strategies and the integration of data across various business functions, such as logistics and quality control, to improve efficiency and product quality.
Technology for Advanced Reporting
In his role, Hook oversees five breweries in Milwaukee, Golden, Trenton, OH, Albany, GA, and Ft. Worth. That means small and large breweries, even what he calls “mid-sized” breweries with the Canadian operations the company has in its portfolio.
A larger facility with the scale it provides, allows the company to invest at a much higher level to the infrastructure for base collection systems, and automation, which the brewery refers to as “manufacturing systems.”
“It tends to be more robust. It tends to have a far larger reach of collection of information, and then all the investment behind that allows you to manipulate and analyze the data at a much higher level than some of our small breweries, where we won’t necessarily invest as much of the automation, especially if it’s been one that’s small or been there for a long time,” he says.
After receiving the data, software can help analyze various parts of the business, from operations, to recipes, to CIP.
“Things that are coming out of different systems is where we continue to endeavor into and at the bigger breweries, we’re able to lean into that a little,” he says. “A little bit of that invested technology allows us to do that.”
The Connected Worker
Hook says that the brewery has put a lot of the technology in the hands of the workers that are running operations, the lines, and other parts of the company.
“They do a lot of inspections, or checks for safety reasons, for quality reasons for maintenance reasons,” he says. “A lot of that has long been manual. You’ve probably seen clipboards and check sheets layered over manufacturing floors to make sure your operation is in check.”
The brewery has spent the last few years automating that and this year started using tablets connected to a software that automates the once pen-and-paper process. Some checks happen automatically, and others need to be manually entered.
The result is feedback from different processes that can either indicate proper performance or show that some attention is needed to address troubles or challenges. It also saves time from having to tally up all written reports.
“It was basically a big game changer for us,” he says. “We use a tablet type approach and have partnered with a provider that’s given us access to have that all automated.
Avoiding Data Overload
Having the technology is great, but what can catch a lot of companies off guard is being overloaded with data. Having a strategy of what your company needs and wants and having it dialed in can mean getting to the heart of the matter without a lot of unnecessary filler.
“If it’s not improving the employee experience or the customer’s experience in terms of the curation of that data, in terms of ultimately providing a better product to our consumers, then why are we doing it,” asks Hook. “You want to have a purpose for that [data] collection.”
He says that now that the company has so many things it can connect into, from standard operating procedures to techniques and checks that happen along multiple lines, the company wants to absorb it all and evolve the digital culture at the pace it can take.
“We have a standard procedure that we’ve assembled that monitors and governs that pace so we know our people can take it on,” he says. “Otherwise, you get too much and you can get drowned a bit and you’re not as successful. It must be a continuous journey.”
A Digital Roadmap
How should a brewery, of any size, start to implement new software and technology into day-to-day operations?
“I would say that you will want to experiment a little bit in the beginning,” says Hook. “Fifteen years ago, we started experimenting with what were attempts at connecting to what’s called ‘the Internet of things’ connecting devices in the manufacturing area and interfacing with our operators.”
He says that while some have not been successful because they don’t fit the operating culture. Other challenges are getting employees used to working on tablets, with new software, and to know the goals the company has for the technology.
“It was a learning process, and we did a lot of experimenting,” he says. “It took time.”
Ultimately, he says that implementing software that helps your brewery means having the infrastructure that can support it. Both in tech and in people. It also means finding the right provider for your needs.
“We had a core desire to be more digitally connected, and then experimented, and we started to hone that as we’ve gone here in the last decade.”
Technology is moving fast, but finding the right solution is worth taking time.