Locally developed management system to be launched next year

11th November 2016

By: Robyn Wilkinson

Features Reporter

  

Font size: - +

Eastern Cape-based manufacturing microbrewery Dockside Brewery is beta testing an in-house developed supervisory control and data acquisition system that will be launched in South Africa next year.

Dockside Brewery co-owner and brewer Karl Schlaphoff explains that the fully integrated financial and manufacturing system manages brewery operations in their entirety, from buying and selling to temperature control and product levels on the brewery floor.

Moreover, it automates the brewing and administration process and provides a single entry system through this automation, making brewing and cleaning processes more energy and water efficient.

He highlights that this increases the overall operational efficiency of the brewery while reducing costs. The system also automatically produces monthly reports, which can be submitted to the South African Revenue Service as part of the records required of businesses.

“While there are plug-in management systems available on the market . . . their features are limited when compared to our design. Dockside Brewery’s system will be the first purpose-built system for alcohol producers in the country.”

He explains that, for example, a temperature reading from a sensor in the field at a particular time can be logged directly on the system in the brewer’s notes while producing a batch of beer.

Information pertaining to each batch can then be accessed at any time for comparison to improve consistency between batches or at a later date by administrative staff to trace raw materials to original invoices and purchase orders. The same information can also be requested in reports from a customs audit.

The system is being trailed at Dockside Brewery, and Schlaphoff says that the company is slowly introducing it to the market. “The system is a bit ahead of the market; our challenge is to encourage people in the brewery industry to understand how the entire business – the financial and industrial sides – can operate using one system.”

Edited by Zandile Mavuso
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Features

Comments

The functionality you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION