A shot for smooth operations
October 1st 2007

When it comes to whisky, an effective cask management system is essential. Replacing some of its warehouses to comply with ATEX regulations last year, Dewar took the opportunity to implement a wireless cask tracking system simultaneously

Whisky has one of the longest shelf-lives of any food or beverage and therefore presents a completely different set of supply chain challenges to perishable products. An effective cask management system is essential in order to produce premium blends effectively and to manage the storage of whisky casks of differing ages until the product is mature enough to be bottled. In a distiller of Dewar's size this means storing 1,300,000 (72,000 casks of whisky in one warehouse) at the sites in Glasgow, Scotland.

In order to store such a flammable product, strict health and safety guidelines must be adhered to. In 2006, Dewar's started to replace some of its warehouses in order to comply with guidelines stating that they needed a fireproof environment, and that the company also needed to create a cable-free environment to ensure that no sparks could ignite the whisky.

Each warehouse stores up to 72,000 casks of whisky and using a paper-based approach was not the most efficient method of stock management. It was decided that it would be beneficial to use technology to automate this process and give everyone access to location information at the touch of a button. To maximise storage space it was also decided to not use racking, and instead store the casks vertically in columns of up to seven, producing a solid volume of casks 63Wx22Dx7H= 9702 in 8 bays. This presented a potential problem for the wireless connectivity as wet wood, liquid and little airspace would absorb the signal.

In addition, when looking into a new system the Dewar's team had to consider the harsh environment that devices would operate in. In the warehouses, there are thousands of casks being constantly moved around. Many of the staff using the devices would be operating forklift trucks, and they would also need to be able to cope with any spillages that might occur.

Wireless cask management Dewar's worked with RealTime, a distributor, to identify a solution that would meet these requirements. RealTime was already working with Dewar's on its main ERP system, so Dewar's was keen to work with the company in the implementation of the cask tracking system too. The solution chosen needed to operate within European regulations governing ATmosphere EXplosives (ATEX) and therefore comprises 12 AP300 wireless access points installed in ATEX1 approved enclosures. The ATEX1 Antenna solved the RF and Environmental issues, whilst 2 WS5100 wireless switches in the computer communications room managed the network, allowing additional capacity as more warehouses are built. The AP300s create a comprehensive wireless network which is easy for the team at Dewar's to manage, via the WS5100 wireless switch. The wireless switch contains state-ofthe- art security measures, including smart intrusion detection and protection against denial of service attacks, so the IT team at Dewar's can be sure that the network is always safe from intruders.

The team at Dewar's chose the ATEX MC9000 mobile computer for use in the warehouses because of its wireless capabilities, built-in barcode scanner and rugged form. A wireless device would enable a cable-free environment in the warehouses and therefore ensure that Dewar's was compliant with regulations concerning fireproofing. In addition, the MC9000 allows employees to have the freedom to move around the warehouse for example to check cask information, whilst still having access to the same information that would be available if they were sitting in the office.

To make sure that the system met all of Dewar's requirements, Motorola, RealTime and Dewar's worked together closely on the design and implementation of the final solution, ensuring that Dewar's had all the functionality it wanted. The most important aspect of this was the ability to know exactly where a cask is located in the solid wall of casks stored, as once a cask is lost, it may never be found again. The ability to plan how casks could be withdrawn from stock minimising the number of movements is also vital (a cask starts with 250 litres of whisky), as it may be many years before a cask is required again. The staff at Dewar's reviewed many systems from different suppliers, but the solution from Motorola and RealTime provided everything the company needed.

In addition to the wireless network being set up in the warehouse, the Dewar's IT team took the opportunity to overhaul all of its operations, and installed Motorola's wireless network in its factory and its offices.

This was to enable seamless communications and access to companywide systems from any part of the site.

Saving time with wireless The IT team at Dewar's has found that the stock control system is now more robust following the introduction of the Motorola wireless solution. With the new solution, employees are no longer reliant on paperbased information to find casks, which speeds up the entire process and frees up employees' time to focus on other tasks.

Additionally, employees now have the capability to immediately update the system as soon as a cask is moved.

As the staff at Dewar's were involved in every aspect of the system design, they were able to specify and control the steps and processes in the application running on the mobile computers. This meant that should these processes change, for example, the stock checking procedure, the in-house IT team can easily update the application accordingly. In addition, the wireless network has allowed the team at Dewar's to update the central system easily, and then roll out these updates to all the devices instead of having to visit each device individually.