The Client
Highland Brewing Company is a rapidly growing brewery located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Founded in 1994 in the basement of an historical building in downtown Asheville, Highland Brewing Company began producing ales in kegs and 22 ounce bottles. However, the popularity of their impressive array of unique brews soon led to additional bottling machines, allowing for a 12 ounce bottle and a marked increase in sales.
Today, Highland Brewing Company boasts the capacity to produce 65,000 barrels a year, and is a major supplier for the Carolinas as well as Tennessee and Georgia. In fact, sales are so strong that the company recently announced the location of a new brewery site that will more than triple their production capacity. Highland Brewing Company is committed to quality and their high standards have brought them great success.
The Challenge
While increased sales at Highland Brewing Company fill the plant with the constant roar of the bottling machines, the company’s asset tracking system was falling behind. Oscar Wong, owner and founder, became frustrated with a paper trail that often resulted in the loss of kegs. “We only charge our customers a $10 deposit for each keg, but if that keg is lost then we lose $95. We've tried to keep records with invoice sheets, but I knew that there had to be a better way.” Wong said.
Even when Wong sent a monthly newsletter to his distributors in an effort to reclaim kegs, flaws in tracking limited the effectiveness. The present manual tracking system was obviously not working, yet a new tracking system had to be affordable and applicable to a small business. Thus began a search for a solution that would put Highland Brewing Company back in control.
The Solution
After implementing Wasp's asset tracking system, Wong was thrilled to see a rapid improvement in keg returns and thus an immediate payback on his investment. Wong adds, “Just the fact that our customers know we took the guesswork out of our tracking system quickly lowered our keg loss ratio.
The Result
We now have accurate data which gives us more credibility and eliminates paperwork errors,” said Wong. More importantly, for a small business like Highland Brewing Company, Wasp's asset tracking solution requires a minimal investment, yet offers the ability to expand, thereby meeting the needs of a growing company.
Now, with Wasp's asset tracking system, Highland Brewing Company’s commitment to quality asset control matches their commitment to high quality ales. Since the implementation of Wasp's asset tracking solution, Highland Brewing Company has benefited from 100% accuracy, zero missed records, and zero missed kegs.
