10 Tips When Considering Winery Production Software

Adopting operations software is a common step for growing wineries. By centralizing all aspects of production, wineries can operate with greater efficiency and transparency, leading to cost savings and higher wine quality. 

Despite the benefits, many wineries who purchase software struggle to get the most out of it. To minimize the risk of this happening to you, we've compiled a list of ten tips to consider to find the right software for your winery. 

1. Make sure it's easy to receive fruit and start the winemaking process

Harvest is one of your busiest times. Grapes will inevitably ripen at once, which can leave you scrambling. For most production systems, tracking starts by receiving fruit (or juice), generating a weight tag, and then creating a Lot to begin the winemaking process. It's essential to ensure that this process is straightforward. If receiving fruit takes too long, you can easily fall behind, leading to a growing data entry backlog that builds up as the harvest activity increases. 

2. Mistakes will happen; how you fix them is what counts

With any software system, data entry mistakes will occur. While it is crucial for software to help you avoid them in the first place, our second tip is that you should understand how to fix them. If errors are easy to correct, then data entry is low-stress. When mistakes require hours of your time and reentry of records, they can cause frustration and potentially restrict who has access, which in turn can make the system less valuable. 

3. Data entry shouldn't take all day

Speaking of data entry, no one likes to spend tons of time doing it. As you evaluate platforms, ensure that keeping records is as efficient as possible. Ask how long it would take to record your daily measurements and cap management during fermentation and then time it. Think about how many clicks a task like this will take so that you can make an informed decision about how much time it would take to keep your winemaking software up to date. 

4. Winemaking records are meant to be used

Every vintage is an opportunity to elevate wine quality. By capturing winemaking data within the software, it gets centralized and preserved. But that's only half the battle. Remember to consider how easy it is to navigate and visualize that information so that it is accessible for daily tasks. 

When evaluating the usability of a platform, ask yourself the following:

• Are the dashboards designed to help me stay organized and on top of my tasks?

• Is it easy to navigate to the wine I'm working on today and get up to speed?

• Can I answer questions from management or tasting room staff quickly?

• Is it easy to explore the blends or decisions made during previous vintages?

5. Users, Training and Support

Production software can be a great training tool for winemaking and cellar staff. It helps new team members get up to speed quickly and gives them access to the knowledge gained from historical vintages. But only if they can learn and have access to your software.

Access: Software pricing models can vary, so it's important to understand if a system charges extra for users. Encouraging usage is often preferable to shared accounts on shared computers. 

Training: More intuitive and approachable systems tend to be easier for staff to learn. The fewer menus and choices it takes to complete tasks, the easier it is to learn workflows quickly. Expect staff to need at least some training to be proficient, and make sure you understand how that training is provided. 

Support: At some point, support will be required. Take the time to understand the expectations for response time and availability of a person rather than self-help articles. How long can you wait if you need help during harvest? 

6. First impression is everything

You may have seen a demo, but onboarding is your first impression. Onboarding helps your team learn the platform, configure any settings, and input data so that the platform reflects the current state of your winery. Great onboarding makes this feel smooth and gets your team off with momentum. Poor onboarding creates frustration and often leads to poor utilization down the road. 

 As you consider providers, understand their onboarding process and how they ensure your early success. If you are considering a switch from another software provider, understand the process for transitioning data from one system to another. 

7. Focus on the functions that you need

Most winemaking software providers offer various packages of functionality that supplement a base system. As you start the process, ask yourself what benefits you expect from this software over the next year. Then, focus on features that provide those anticipated benefits. 

Some ancillary features to consider:

• Vineyard Management

• Cost of Goods

• Work Orders

• Case Goods Management

8. Is your future winemaking a combination of digital and analog or mobile-first?

Consider what the future of your cellar looks like. Do you see cellar workers taking notes on clipboards and following physical work orders, or do you see them interacting primarily on a phone or tablet?

Ensure that whichever future you see, the platform of your choice can support that vision. Most importantly, if your vision is for a mobile-first cellar, ensure the mobile app is highly intuitive and easy to get data into; otherwise, you may find employees quickly reverting to paper and spreadsheets. 

9. Software should feel like it was built for you

Each winery is unique and operates differently from its neighbors. Good software is flexible and adapts to those differences rather than forcing you to change, which can cause friction. 

Flexibility can show up in several ways:

• Within the winemaking process itself

• In terms of which data gets tracked 

• Your ability to customize reporting 

As you evaluate platforms, consider critical workflows, such as receiving winemaking ingredients. How do the data inputs align with your expectations? Remember, unnecessary data capture can result in frustration with the software and wasted time. 

10. Winemaking software should be cloud-based

When your production software is in the cloud, it is accessible from any device, no matter where you are. You don't have to worry about going between the cellar and the office to record data or check the last chemistry measurements. It also means multiple team members can use it at the same time, and you will see the most up-to-date information. 

Having data in the cloud also means your valuable business records are safe and secure. Many wineries are in areas at risk for natural disasters, such as fire or floods. With records in the cloud, it becomes one less thing to worry about should an emergency occur.  

If you'd like to see how winemaking teams use production software to be more organized and make better wine, please get in touch with the Blended Technologies Team.