We understand the struggles of balancing rising production costs, time to market, customer demands for superior service and quality, and corporate bottom-line requirements. We have expertise in developing “roadmaps” for the future through a unique, cross-functional approach to addressing your brewery challenges. By helping you develop a tailor-made optimization strategy, our “roadmap” program aims to extend the life of your facility, improve your customer service, and maximize your return on investment.

Our approach involves first gaining a thorough understanding of your brewery business pressure points both today and on the horizon. We are then uniquely positioned to assign a cross-functional team of seasoned brewery-specific experts to work with you on your roadmap. One size does not fit all – we scale our solutions to meet your needs.

Whether you are a small brewery concerned with process effectiveness and maximizing use of space within the four walls of your brewery/taproom, a mid-sized facility contemplating a facility expansion and broadening your distribution network, or a 100,000 HL+ brewery wanting to optimize efficiency and productivity on a high-speed packaging line, ETOH has the brewery experts to provide practical solutions to help you get there.

We will review your current brewery business and operating procedures in detail, benchmark against others of your scale around the world, and provide you with specific, prioritized, and actionable recommendations and solutions for improvement – in line with international standards of operation.

Process Improvement Areas:

· Brewery Operations, including:

. Efficiency and productivity improvements.

. Reducing process losses.

. Enhancing in-process and finished product quality.

. Capacity optimization – increasing throughput.

. Maintenance techniques.

. Reducing environmental footprint.

. Reducing risks associated with Environment, Health and Safety

 Supply Chain, including :

. Improving brewery forecasting, planning and scheduling.

. Demand and supply balancing.

. Optimizing flow of materials and finished goods.

. Procurement contract(s) review.

. Improving inventory management.

. Distribution network optimization.

. Improving customer delivery performance

 Organizational Structure, including:

. Overall brewery organizational structure improvements.

. Duties, skills and responsibilities by position.

. Compensation, rewards and recognition

 Commercial Strategy, including:

. Value proposition, competitive positioning, key messages and target market.

. Pricing, packaging and beer styles vs. competition and market needs.

. Sales structure, size, systems, tools and quality of relationships with key partners.

. Sales strategies and tactics by channel to improve effectiveness.

. Marketing activities, spend and priorities/initiatives

  Financial Review, including:

. Financial statement review

. Benchmarking

. Opportunity assessment

Working with ETOH to choose the right strategic priorities for your Process Improvement Roadmap is a great way to gain an edge over your competition. We also have the skills and experience to help you embed a sustainable culture of continuous improvement in your brewery “teaching your team to fish where the fishes are.” Some companies around the world are reaping fantastic benefits on an ongoing basis because they have set strong performance standards and have trained all employees on how to continuously improve performance so they can attain those higher standards.

Teaching your team to “fish where the fishes are”

There are companies around the world that are reaping fantastic benefits on an ongoing basis because they have set strong performance standards and have trained all employees on how to continuously improve performance so they can achieve those higher standards. The continuous improvement process has become a way of life in those companies. They know that continuous improvement relies on the commitment of empowered employees working in multidisciplinary teams to objectively measure and improve business processes to continually enhance customer satisfaction. So why do some companies get it right while others fail to reap the benefits?

Why companies fail:

· Lack of senior leadership championing the continuous improvement initiative.

· Failure to get employee buy-in – not explaining “the WHY”.

· Lack of a structured implementation plan that includes change management, training, project management, communication and ownership from within.

· Absence of an ongoing daily, weekly and monthly routine of follow up on team performance.

· Focusing only on technology improvements rather than engaging staff in a true culture of continuous improvement, which is harder and takes more time.

What successful companies do:

· Focus on people and processes, in addition to technology and IT systems for improvement.

· Keep it simple stupid (K.I.S.S).

· Share the goals across their teams.

· Make a clear link between staff actions and the company results.

· Leadership visibly championing the culture needed to realize the results.

· Set an ongoing routine of reviewing and acting on key performance indicators (KPIs)

· Focus on the important things – not everything!

· Clarify roles and responsibilities so that the gaps can be improved by managing the parts.

· Follow up, follow up, follow up…

ETOH operations specialists are real beer people with contemporary plant management experience. Our team has hands-on experience planning, leading and working with breweries to sustainably implement continuous improvement programs. We assist clients to improve their cost competitiveness through progressive productivity improvements, modern product processing techniques, and superior brewing education and training. When embarking on an improvement program it is critical to choose specific strategic processes that will make a real, and visible, difference in the business. By focusing on areas that can have a major impact everyone is energized and solutions can reap big gains in performance and profits.

The ETOH formula for successful implementation includes:

· Ensuring that the management team’s composition is such that it can create the necessary changes on its own.

· Leaders effect meaningful changes.

· Selecting key strategic processes for improvement.

· Fish where the fishes are, if you like.

· Ensuring that team members have a good in-depth knowledge (competence) of the various improvement tools, including problem identification and analysis.

The future belongs to best quality of beers.

ETOH provides specialized expertise to ensure your consumers receive your best beer every time.

Quality Management Systems (QMS)

· QMS Manual Development.

· QMS Implementation.

· QMS Sustainability Audit

QMS is a system for management and assurance of product quality. It provides a statement of “quality control policy,” and details procedures and methods by which the policy is to be adhered to. A QMS also sets out quality goals and how they will be achieved. It defines responsibilities for each manufacturing stage and product quality, and it defines actions for what is to be done at each quality-critical manufacturing stage. It lays out a standard systematic method for handling quality issues (example: discard a out-of-spec product).

A classic QMS starts with a strategic statement of the company’s quality policy/philosophy. It then outlines the specific procedures and instructions of who does what, when, where and how. This includes instructions on how work is done, sampling plans, reporting formats, specifications, recipes, corrective actions, and laboratory analytical methods. These are laid out in a “QMS Manual” for the brewery.

ETOH QMS manual is a comprehensive knowledge base for all QMS procedures and guidelines. When we produce the QMS manual, we consider all variables that can affect product quality, including raw materials sampling and storage, lab analysis and how to resolve non-conforming product issues. We provide in-depth descriptions of processes and policies, develop recording and reporting systems, and educate staff on their specific roles within the Quality Management System, as well as the overall objectives and rationale of the QMS. Finally, the QMS manual describes how to assess the effectiveness of the QMS through periodic post-implementing audits.

Step 1 – QMS Manual Development

ETOH QMS is for the management and assurance of product quality. Naturally, the intent is to keep it simple but also effective.

QMS Manual Format:

· Introduction – contains a QMS rationale and definition.

· Quality Policy – a statement of management’s quality commitment as well as the policy and specific quantified quality goals.

· Organization – shows who is responsible for what in regards to quality, as well as individual responsibilities.

· Description of Process Unit Operations – contains specific focus on quality-critical operations and activities at the overall plant and department level. This may include:

. Plant overview.

. Raw material receiving and storage.

. Brewhouse design.

. Yeast Management.

. Fermentation.

. Maturation and Stabilization.

. Packaging (Bottling, Canning, Kegging)

. Warehousing.

. Utilities and Maintenance.

. Laboratory (Test equipment, methodology)

. Specifications – raw materials, in-process product, finished product.

. Sampling plans – for all raw materials used, and at critical points in the process.

. Analytical – microbiological, chemical, packaging, and sensory.

. Systems – Operator, Management. May also outline which statistical techniques are to be used.

. Non-conforming Products – details how to resolve out-of-spec issues.

. Education and Training – outlines prerequisite credentials of those responsible for quality.

. Post Audit – describes periodic system for assessing if QMS if functioning properly.

Step 2 – QMS Implementation:

· Explain QMS to senior management, who must champion the QMS.

· Develop and confirm quality policy.

· Identify quality-critical areas in the process. Incorporate into the QMS, adapting as necessary.

· Write new procedures to cover quality-critical operations (work instructions, specifications, recipes)

· Set realistic targets.

· Train staff in new systems and methods.

· Plan for post-implementation audits to review effectiveness of new practices and amend as necessary (on-going, 1 day per month).

· Submit quarterly conformance reports.

Step 3 – QMS Sustainability Audit

Regular audit and follow up is critical to sustaining a QMS in your brewery, which creates the conditions for you to create customer satisfaction through the delivery of high quality, consistent product. ETOH assigns experienced and internationally known brewers, process engineers and quality specialists to conduct independent audits on all process and quality systems and at all stages in the production process

QMS Audit Objectives:

· To determine if the process is properly designed, defined and documented.

· To determine conformity or nonconformity of the quality system elements with specified requirements.

· To determine the effectiveness of the implemented quality system in meeting specified quality objectives.

· To provide the audited plant management with an opportunity to take timely corrective action to eliminate deficiencies.

· Supplemental objectives to meet regulatory requirements, and/or to achieve certification (FSSAI for example) may also be included.

QMS Audits need to be performed on a regular basis. The quality audit can take from a few days up to few weeks, depending on the size and complexity of the brewery. It encompass a review of process and quality documentation, plans and activities. A Conformance Report is prepared and includes recommendations for adjustments. The report results are discussed with local management, corrective and preventive actions are agreed, and a time schedule for action is set. Successive audits include a report on completion of the previous audit’s action plan. A sensory evaluation of in process and finished product will be conducted during the audit and reported.

Sound advice always on demand from experienced professionals.

Our quality troubleshooting approach involves analysis of symptoms, diagnosis of root cause and recommendations for the best solutions. Martin Bernard has helped breweries solve all kinds of problems for over a decade. With Martin Bernard and ETOH, you are now getting a step-by-step approach:

Sample Analysis

· Chemical and microbiological testing.

· Sample Analysis can includes:

. Analytical (AE, ALC., OE, RE, colour, IBU, pH).

. Micro and Contamination check (aerobic, anaerobic, acetobacter, HLP, etc.).

. Shelf stability

. Taste Profiling

· A descriptive sensory analysis by experienced beer professional tasters

Taste profiling includes:

. Panel of certified beer tasters.

. Blind tasting.

. Confidential report.

Plant Site Visits

· Armed with the analytical, micro and taste information the ETOH Specialist will conduct a site visit reviewing the technical data and observing first-hand the process, procedures and equipment in the brewery.

Report and Recommendations

· Analytical, microbiological testing and taste profiling results plus observations and recommendations are presented in a confidential written report.

Report includes:

. Scorecard of taste / lab / process results vs. best practice.

. Recommendations for improvement developed jointly by the brewery and ETOH quality specialists.

Implementation

· Brewery implements the recommendations in the report.

· Brewers to confirm satisfaction (e.g., 2-3 test brews).

Post-Implementation Support

· Analytical, microbiological testing and taste profiling are repeated and compared to results from the first report to validate improvements and provide further improvement recommendations.

 Improvement assessment includes:

. Second lab analysis.

. Second sensory evaluation (taste panel).

. Report / Scorecard to compare results against the results of the first report to validate.

Improving Safety and Reducing Environmental Impact.

ETOH can provide specialized and practical expertise to ensure your brewery is operating safely and in compliance with applicable Environment, Health and Safety Regulations. Our services include:

· Assessing your current Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Program.

· Developing or Enhancing your EHS Program.

· Assistance with Implementing your EHS program.

Health and Safety (H&S) Program

An effective Health and Safety (H&S) program makes worker safety a priority and reduces loss of the most valuable resource a brewery has – its employees.

ETOH ‘s technical support team can create a H&S program for your start-up brewery or assess and make recommendations to improve your current H&S program as well.

ETOH ‘s H&S program review will be conducted based on applicable Occupational Health and Safety requirements, as well as Health and Safety best practices. We will review documentation on site, perform a physical site inspection, and talk to your employees to identify areas of H&S risk and provide specific and practical opportunities for improvement.

Our review typically includes:

· Management Commitment and Employee Involvement.

· Worksite Analysis.

· Hazard Prevention and Control.

· Employee Training.

Environmental Program

An effective Environmental program minimizes a brewery’s impact on the environment – Air Water and Soil. With climate change becoming an increasing threat and focus to society, it is imperative that a brewery manages operations in a way that minimizes this impact.

ETOH technical support team will perform an Environmental Review which includes an assessment of your environmental documentation, coupled with a site inspection. We will focus on high priority areas and propose best practices to assist you in reducing the environmental footprint and risk in your brewery.

Our review typically includes:

· Management Commitment.

· Environmental Program Documentation and Permits.

· Site Assessment and Environmental Risk Analysis.

· Utility Optimization.

· Employee Training.