Upgrading from pen and paper to real-time digital data entry - Union Wine Co's. seventh harvest with vintrace

Going into the 2020 harvest, Union’s winemaker Cheney Vidrine and Assistant Winemaker Kaitlin O’Brien faced a flourishing winery’s usual challenges. Some examples:

• The importance of following a process in sequence. While work orders contain the necessary instructions, it is easy to execute them out of order. For example, cellar workers occasionally forget to take a tank volume measurement (tank dip) before executing a wine transfer.
• Data entry and accuracy. A clipboard system is error-prone, as it requires the creation and printing of work orders, handwritten data entry, and transcription of that data into digital form. In addition to penmanship and transcription errors, sometimes the clipboards would go missing. Additionally, searching for a pen can delay the process.
• Delays in lab data collection. Daily Brix and temperature measurements help to decide when to press, rack, or fill barrels. These data are captured at the tank in ink on paper. Unfortunately, that information is not visible to the winemaking team until lab personnel has transcribed them many hours later.
• Ambiguity. Despite best efforts, it can be challenging to write concise work orders. Consequently, the instructions can create questions and conversations between the winemakers and cellar staff that may lead to mistakes.
• Handoff challenges during shift changes. When in-progress work orders are handed off to the next shift, mistakes can occur when communication is limited to handwritten or easily misinterpreted notes.
• Covid-19. Passing paperwork orders back and forth is inconsistent with ‘touch-free’ coronavirus prevention.

With six years of experience using vintrace, Union addressed these issues by providing iPod Touch devices its 30 cellar staff and utilizing vintrace’s digital work orders system. Improvements were immediate. vintrace’s digital work order system made it easy for cellar staff to work sequentially and avoid errors. As O’Brien explains, “with vintrace, one must complete the screen requiring a tank dip before they can move to the next step.”

Another game-changer came from lab staff entering Brix and temperature data directly into iPods—and therefore into vintrace—in real-time, eliminating the lab staff’s need to transcribe. O’Brien said accuracy was “ten times better, plus data was in our winemaking system as soon as it was measured. When that rolled out, it was a celebration day!” Eliminating pen, paper, and transcription steps saved daily labor hours.