Three Brothers Brewing Company
Revolutionising the brewing sector through smart technology.
The award-winning family brewing company worked with Made Smarter to implement digital technology that not only improves productivity, but also reduces asset losses and thefts.
Started in 2016 as a family business, Three Brothers Brewing Company supplies its award-winning range of craft beers to pubs and direct to customers across the UK. It also runs and supports a number of leading North East beer festivals. The company worked with Made Smarter to find a digital solution to a logistics problem experienced by the sector as whole.
Now rolling out Near Field Communication (NFC) technology across its business, Three Brothers Brewing is also hoping to launch a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solution for the brewing industry as part of its expansion plans.
The Challenge
For many brewers, one of the most significant challenges they face is tracking and monitoring barrels. Lost or missing barrels can cost thousands of pounds every year, and it’s a problem experienced across the sector, as David Dodd – Brewery Manager at Three Brothers Brewing Company – explains.
“Our current system of using numbers to track barrels has quite a high margin for error as mistakes can easily be made. Inputting the wrong number can cause huge logistical problems and makes it very hard to keep track of where our barrels are at any given time.”
Three Brothers Brewing Company knew it wanted to explore a
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solution, which would remove the manual process of tracking barrels and move to an automated system.
The Solution
The company worked with Made Smarter Adoption North East to explore what smart technology was available to help track its barrels and improve efficiency across the business.
Three Brothers Brewing Company was able to use a grant from Made Smarter Adoption North East to integrate Near Field Communication (NFC) technology into its distribution process, ensuring staff can locate each barrel and automate other key bits of information too; including its content, and how long it has been with each public house.
David said: “NFC technology is very functional and cost effective. It’s a great investment for our business moving forward.”
The Benefits
The company is in the process of tagging each of its 3,000 barrels so the technology can be rolled out.
David continued: “Each barrel costs about £100 + VAT, and within the industry there’s around a 4% annual loss rate. For our company, that equates to £12,000 of lost assets ever year. If we can reduce that loss to 2.5% or lower, it means significant savings for the business.”
The tags the company is installing are duel purpose, meaning they can also be used with high strength RFID technology too.
The Future
Three Brothers Brewing Company has grown year on year since it began trading and the company is currently looking at a big expansion project.
It’s also in talks with a potential partner to launch its own Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solution for the brewing industry. David said: “There’s still a huge number of people working off spreadsheets so there’s a real need for software that can help brewers reduce inaccuracies and improve their overall productivity.”
About Made Smarter Adoption North East
Made Smarter Adoption North East is a fully-funded business support programme that connects manufacturing businesses in the region to digital tools that can transform the way they work. Grants are available to help eligible businesses introduce new digital solutions that improve performance and efficiency.
Backed by world-renowned businesses and UK government, Made Smarter Adoption North East aims to drive growth in UK manufacturing by improving the development and adoption of emerging technologies across the sector.
The North East Growth Hub and Tees Valley Business are working with Made Smarter to deliver Made Smarter Adoption North East in the North East LEP and Tees Valley Combined Authority areas.