Supply Chain Analysis of Brewery Industry

The brewery industry outlines the production, brewing, distribution, bottling, sale, and delivery of beer and alcoholic beverages. The supply chain network and process of the Brewery industry starts from sourcing raw materials and supplies and performing various productions and manufacturing operations in delivering the finished goods to the end consumers. Today, we’ll discuss the supply chain analysis of Brewery Industry; it focuses on various SCM elements like procurement planning, inventory management, warehousing, automation, transportation, and distribution.

Supply Chain Analysis of Brewery Industry

Let’s discuss the main elements of the supply chain analysis of Brewery Industry as follows;

Sourcing Raw Material

The raw materials, ingredients, and supplies for beer and brewery are yeast, sugar, coffee beans, spices, hops, malt, water, and other tools and equipment. According to an estimate, approximately over 70% of the malt goes for animal feed, and the remaining 30% of the malt is for the production of beer and brewing.

The beer and Brewery industry is facing the challenge of limited production of malt and hops due to the bush fire, bad weather, and other natural and environmental crises. Some of the other environmental challenges impacting the production of Brewery raw materials are as follows;

• High temperature
• Drought and scarcity of water
• Natural climate shift
• Shrinking crops
• Ramularia disease impacting barley crops
• Growing disease

The local sourcing of crops and fields as the raw ingredients for the production of beer plays a key role in the supply chain network of Brewery.

Multiple Suppliers

Brewers deal with multiple suppliers and partners to ensure the smooth availability of raw ingredients and quality of material. Some of the supplying partners of the company are packaging suppliers and partners, tools, parts, and equipment suppliers and partners. However, when it comes to building a strong relationship with suppliers and vendors, requires the company to employ digital tools to ensure the delivery schedule and orders.

Production and Brewing

The Brewery industry requires hard and intensive labor for the production and manufacturing processes of beer. The SaaS Inventory is a great tool for brewers to correctly predict the Brewery production schedule, contracts of suppliers, expiry dates of ingredients and supplies, seasonal demand fluctuation based on historical data, and inventory tracking and management. However, the automation system and technology made the production process highly convenient.

Packaging of Brewery Industry

Packaging is also one of the main areas of the supply chain management process and it comprises packaging labeling, kegs, cases, PETS, bottles, and others. The glass packaging offers many benefits and some of them are as follows;

• Large market share
• Reusable and recycling
• Beer tends to remain fresh in the glass bottle than any other form of packaging.
• Glass is an insulator and it keeps beer cold for a long time for single-packaging
• Decreases the risk of beer spoilage due to very limited and no chemical reaction with beer; light can’t enter the beer amber glass bottles.
• Glass is an eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable form of packaging.

Distribution

Brewery manufacturers employ various transportation and 3rdparty logistics service providers for the transportation and distribution of beer. They move raw supplies and ingredients from the suppliers to the brewery production and manufacturing factories, and deliver the brewery to the warehouses and distribution centers for packaging, labeling, and bottling; then to the retail stores and the end consumers.

While choosing the logistics service providers, they make sure that the beer distributor has sufficient capability to safely transport the product at the right temperature.

Environmental Sustainability

The consumer market has become highly cautious about the nature and environment. They expect from the brewers and beer manufacturers to decrease their natural environmental impact. They should implement and go for the green beer project, it requires them to re-evaluate everything ranging from the following;

• Eco-friendly Packaging material
• Waste management
• Water usage
• Sourcing of raw supplies
• Recycling initiatives
• Energy-efficient tools, machinery, and equipment

Market Demand

The demand for beer keeps on fluctuating throughout the year; It is because of the socio-cultural festivals, sporting events, and seasonality. It is highly difficult and critical for the brewery manufacturers and the Brewery industry to rightly predict the demand of the specific products. In order to right predict the demand for the beer, brewers should take the following steps.

• Flexible production schedule to keep up with the changing customer demands
• Connecting with suppliers and distributors to beware of the sociocultural festival that would potentially increase the consumption of beer
• Employing various forecasting tools and equipment to recognize the patterns

Conclusion: Brewery Supply Chain Analysis | Brewery Supply Chain Management

After an in-depth study of the supply chain analysis of Brewery Industry; we have realized that Brewery industry is the world’s top-growing business industry. If you are learning about the Brewery Industry supply chain analysis; then you should keep in mind the abovementioned SCM elements; procurement, planning, transportation, automation, inventory management, and sortation.