intro p: (03) 9015 9625 f: (03) 8621 8918 e: info@jx2.com.au
 
Hello there,

It's been a long time between drinks but our newsletter is back. This one is jam packed with all the latest news and useful info including:
  • What does a wine company in Canada and Ghostbusters have in common?
  • Taking the hassle out of barrel management
  • Addressing the issues of cost tracking and inventory management
  • JX2 gets behind Portavin Touch Wine
  • Introducing Steve Marchesi as our Western Australia distributor
So take a timeout from the daily grind and catch up with us. To forward this to a friend - CLICK HERE.

Cheers

Josh, Jamie and Zane

Ps. If you have trouble viewing this newsletter, please browse to http://jx2.com.au/newsletter1008.html

Our first Canadian client; 5 more wineries upgrade to VINx2

We're very excited to welcome on-board Diamond Estates Wines and Spirits (DWS) from Ontario, Canada - our first North American client. DWS incorporates five wineries and is one of the top five wine producers in Ontario. Interestingly, one of the five wineries they own is called Dan Aykroyd Wines with the company being part owned by the man himself. For those that don't know, Dan Aykroyd is the Hollywood comedic legend (and famous Canadian) starring in classics such as the Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters.

Speaking of Ghostbusters we hear that there is a third instalment on its way - being the 80's tragics that we are, we can't wait. Break out the big hair and hypercolour t-shirts - it's time for a comeback! Dan has a uniquely (and almost Australian) down to earth approach to wine and marketing the stuff - just check out his website where he states his wine is "MADE FROM 100% SNOB FREE GRAPES. FULL OF TANNINS AND STUFF. WE CAN'T PRONOUNCE SOMMELIER EITHER."

DWS, currently in the middle of their northern vintage, produces a range of domestic brands but also imports, markets and distributes a number of international brands including a very healthy list from Australia. The Oz contingent includes Angus the Bull, Howard Park, Leconfield, Long Flat and Leeuwin Estate - just to name a few. Their aggressive expansion plans have also been in the news recently.

In deciding who would go over to manage the installation, it almost came down to a coin toss, but Jamie was the man for the job. He has learnt a lot about the Ontario wine industry and he'd welcome the chance to talk it over with you - so who you gonna call? (Sorry - but we really are that excited about Ghostbusters 3).

Here are some of Jamie's photos...
Fruit receival part 1 Fruit receival part 2
Inside the winery Jamie at Niagara Falls (lucky bugger!)

Taking the hassle out of barrel management

I was at Belvidere Winery, in Langhorne Creek, a few days ago to install our new wireless barrel management module. After outgrowing their existing shed, Belvidere has built a bigger-than-Bunnings 5000+ barrel shed that will look pretty impressive on Google earth next time the satellite passes overhead.

Keeping track of barrels can be a logistical nightmare for any winery with common stories of lost barrels (full of premium gear), topping 'errors' and overdue SO2 treatments. Compounding the problem is the time it takes to keep a manual record of barrels as wine moves in and out of them, not to mention the time involved in searching for 'lost' ones. And that's where we come in... With Belvidere's input, we've come up with a solution using wireless mobile computers fitted with pistol-style barcode scanners (pictured).

As each barrel is moved into the shed it is tagged with a unique barcode and then quickly associated to a barrel in VINx2. Each barrel group is then assigned coordinates in the shed, usually by row or bay numbers, before being moved into position. Cellar notes are prepared for barrel work as normal but are completed in much less time by swiping each barrel - no manual log, no writer's cramp!

Now there are a couple of advantages to a completely wireless solution. First of all you don't have the fiddly job of 'docking' or copying files between the scanner and a computer. As well as saving time, this could save you the expense of an extra computer. Another advantage is that all the barrel work is recorded in real time which means that work orders can be processed as soon as the job is done. No wires = no mess, no fuss. With a real time link to VINx2 you can also see the latest analysis results, composition and state of a wine in barrel - handy information when you're in the shed on a tasting. Tasting notes can also be recorded on the spot!

Addressing the issues of cost tracking and inventory management

There are a number of accounting packages out there that fail to differentiate between your dry-good stock (the materials you use to produce your wine) and the finished product itself.

This has the potential to cause confusion, particularly when you're trying to arm your sales team with accurate stock levels to allocate and distribute to market. There's also the issue of keeping stock in more than one location, such as your cellar door and the warehouse - most packages won't let you do that either. Similarly, from a production standpoint, you want to ensure your winemakers have the supplies they need, when they need it. And, to prepare for the event of a safety recall, its recommended best practice for wineries to track lot/batch information for every procured item (chemicals, corks, bottles, etc) - particularly those things that come into contact with your wine. In fact, this is now a legal requirement in the US and New Zealand.

All these business problems and more have been addressed with our new Advanced inventory module. We've also extended VINx2 with cost tracking for inputs such as fruit, bulk wine, freight, overheads, additions, storage and more. At the end of the month your bean counters will want to give you a bonus when you produce detailed reports showing input costs, current stock value and all stock movements to and from the system. Please drop us a line or email and we'd be happy to organise a demo.

JX2 gets behind Portavin Touch Wine

On Sunday 9th November, the Greenhill Road Touch Fields will be the host venue of a unique inner city wine and food extravaganza, while 48 teams from wineries across the country will compete in a touch football tournament for the Portavin Touch Wine Champions Cup. Combining three of Australia's greatest passions - wine, food and sport, Portavin Touch Wine is the major fundraising activity of the Hutt Street Centre, Adelaide's leading frontline agency for Adelaide's homeless and marginalised people.

The event is the brainchild of UK wine writer and author Matthew Jukes. The three events so far have been great successes together raising over $250,000 for Hutt Street Centre. This has been due to the backing of the wine industry, the fantastic support of all the sponsors, the passion of Matthew Jukes and the support of Australian sporting icons including Nick Farr-Jones and Bruce McAvaney.

If you're not participating in the football, we encourage you to throw your support behind this worthy cause by coming along to watch the action from the Matthew Jukes VIP Marquee. Tickets are available by contacting Danielle Bayard on (08) 8418 2511. Jamie Gilchrist from JX2 will be there on the day - feel free to give him a call on 0402 426 051 to find him in the crowd.

Introducing Steve Marchesi as our Western Australia distributor

We'd like to welcome Steve Marchesi to the JX2 team. Steve is located in Dunsborough WA on the northern boundary of the Margaret River Wine Region. He's been supplying IT services and working closely with the wine industry in the South West of WA since 2000. Originally from Perth and holding a Bachelor of Business (Information Technology), Steve opted for a sea change after some 20 years in IT (Sydney and Perth). This was about the same time as the Y2K bug was getting a lot of press and planes were expected to start falling out of the sky. Any wonder, Steve (pictured as he sees himself and not to scale) wanted to go surfing on the WA coast.

In that time he's worked with Albert Haak and Associates on a viticulture benchmark programme, QA programmes, helped develop the Microsoft Navision wine vertical (now known as VinPoint) and assisted several wineries with their business/accounting systems. He's done the obligatory vintage as part of his cadetship and confesses "he'd do it again except it's a young man's occupation".

On a more serious note, Steve understands the nature of a modern winery and how putting technology to work effectively can have a significant impact on improving workflow and access to information. You can get in touch with Steve via phone (08) 9756 7654, mobile 0419 756 585 or email marchesi@highway1.com.au