I’ve been immersed in the winemaking industry and agricultural sector for 25 years, and helping my customers implement QAD solutions for the past 20. That’s a lot of years of change and progress, and I feel fortunate that my customers rely on IT Conosur to help them at every stage of their production process.
Margins are incredibly low in winemaking, and the challenges are many and mighty. With new competitors popping up at a higher rate than ever, it’s crucial for customers to find an edge. That’s where QAD comes in.
Because of my history and expertise, I was honored to help develop the Winemakers and Agricultural Module for QAD Food & Beverage ERP, making sure it includes everything my customers want and need to be successful — and that’s a long and ever-expanding list.
Winemakers Have Unique Needs and Challenges
Our support of IT Conosur customers does not stop at ERP implementation. We’ve got their back as they continue their journey, making sure their use of QAD is as efficient and effective as possible, especially when new features and versions launch. We want them to be happy with their decision.
These customers have unique challenges that QAD’s adaptive solutions are designed to address. Take winemakers, for example. Specific winemaking challenges — and QAD’s answers to those challenges — include:
- Cost control and transaction tracking: QAD keeps track of every single step from grape to glass — a process that takes a year or more. Winemakers must keep control of labor, materials and production. This alone would make QAD Food & Beverage ERP worth its weight in gold, but it’s the first of many useful features.
- Traceability: This is particularly difficult within the wine industry because of the blending process, but QAD has meticulous methods. We don’t like to think about it, but in the event that a product needs to be recalled, QAD’s tracking and tracing tools make that possible — impressive considering the fact that sometimes multiple types of grapes from various fields end up blended together in one bottle.
- Process flexibility: Premium wine is not made from a standard, repeatable recipe. The process varies depending on a range of factors, particularly the taste of that year’s grapes. QAD allows for adaptability and flexibility on a dime.
- Labor logistics: With multiple teams of people working in multiple fields, and hours that must be reported row by row and tree by tree, plus variability due to weather conditions, it’s crucial for winemakers to keep their fingers on the pulse of scheduling and pay — especially since winemakers don’t have the margins to support a heavy staff, because labor is one of the most expensive parts of grape production. Having the right people ready to work at exactly the right moment is crucial for good wine.
- Weather tracking and prediction: Forecasting rainy, windy days ahead and comparing that information to historical data helps winemakers plan for labor and puzzle out whether they’ll have a good grape, for example. Having that peek into the future helps my customers schedule labor on the right day, and gives them a jump on buying the best barrels at the best price before the competition snatches them up.
- Profitability verification: No matter how great your wine tastes, the bottom line insists that it’s making money for you. QAD delivers that information, with data that can be customized to your needs.
Proven Success in the Winemaking Industry
Fifth-generation winery Miguel Torres Chile is a prime example of how IT Conosur can help build an adaptive enterprise with QAD ERP. This winemaker believes in living with the land, making sustainability central to every aspect of its production process (an idea supported by research). They are Fair Trade-certified and moving toward a net-zero carbon strategy through the Torres and Earth initiative, which also prioritizes organic agriculture and regenerative farming. All this means that their goal is to deliver a consistently high product that has the best price-quality ratio possible and is also friendly to the environment. And QAD is making all of that possible.
Miguel Torres Chile has been a QAD ERP customer for nearly 20 years — among the first to work with IT Conosur to implement and maintain the system. They rave about the QAD ERP features but are especially enamored with the way those features are integrated into a single platform.
Since implementing QAD ERP and collaborating with IT Conosur, Miguel Torres Chile has transformed from a small winery reliant on manual processes into a larger organization with all the information it needs to make quick decisions with confidence.
For much more detail, read the Miguel Torres Chile case study on the QAD website, where you can also find another example about work we’ve done with Viña Undurraga, which now uses real-time insight into their entire winemaking process to make rapid decisions instead of guesswork.
How Can We Help You?
At the end of the day, the winemaking industry is as complex as a glass of premium wine. That’s why we developed this dedicated module within QAD Food & Beverage ERP, and that’s why I never have a dull moment on the job. My customers love QAD’s flexibility and adaptability, and I love being able to help them onboard and use the module to exceed their own expectations.
If you’re interested in learning more about how QAD Adaptive ERP can help your winemaking company, get in touch with us online or contact the QAD team at [email protected].
