DRAMS Webinar Series

Hosted Live on Wednesday 14th October 2024

This webinar was originally delivered live by Managing Director, Brendan Flood.

In the webinar, Brendan delves into the complexities of spirit inventory planning. The session covers key challenges faced by the industry, including improving collaboration between sales, marketing, and spirit supply, managing inventory constraints, and enhancing forecast accuracy.

Brendan also highlights the limitations of traditional tools like Excel and demonstrates how a dedicated planning solution can offer more reliable insights, reduce errors, and streamline the planning process. This webinar is a must-watch for professionals seeking to optimise their long-term planning strategies in the spirit industry.

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1. Welcome & Introductions

Introduction of speakers and overview of the webinar objectives.

2. Key Challenges of Spirit Inventory Planning

Exploring the complex processes involved in long-term planning and the challenges faced by producers.

3. The Use of Spreadsheets as a Planning Tool

Sharing experiences of producers using spreadsheets to manage the planning process and highlighting the limitations of this approach.

4. Advantages of a Dedicated Planning Solution

Highlighting the direct and indirect benefits of a dedicated planning system, and demonstrating these benefits using reporting outputs from the DRAMS Long-Term Planning solution.

Brendan joined DRAMS in 2011, and was apart of the design process of DRAMS Long-Term Planning module in 2012. He has overseen the implementation of DRAMS' Long-Term Planning module across multiple spirit types/geographies, and is continuously involved in ongoing DRAMS Long-Term Planning product management.

Available as a standalone solution or integrated into the core DRAMS system, DRAMS Long-Term Planning enables users to effectively manage inventory position data and barrel movements. 

DRAMS Long-Term Planning provides a number of key benefits, including: 

• Production Planning: Understand precisely when and how much of each type of spirit must be produced to ensure it is ready for bottling exactly when needed. This foresight allows for optimal utilisation of production capacity and resources.
• Product Recipe Management: Identify when inventory levels of a specific spirit type become inadequate to meet bottling requirements, and make short-term adjustments to product recipes. This flexibility helps to target spirits in surplus and maintain consistent production output.
• Secure Capex Funding: Validate the timing and amount of capital investment required by pinpointing the exact moments when spirit production or warehouse capacity will be insufficient to meet future demand. This ensures that financial resources are allocated effectively and strategically.
• Redeploy Marketing Spend: When forecast demand cannot be met, adjust the marketing focus to shift demand towards sustainable product lines. This ensures that marketing efforts are aligned with production capabilities, preventing overselling and inventory shortfalls.
• Redeploy Marketing Spend: Identify surplus inventory and other potential revenue opportunities by optimising sales, adjusting product recipes, or renting out excess warehouse space. This approach not only helps manage excess stock but also generates additional income streams, improving overall profitability.
• Monitor Product Evolution: Track the progression and refinement of end-product recipes to fully understand the impact of recipe changes on product quality, average age, and production costs. This insight enables strategic decisions that optimise product value and ensure consistency, aligning with both operational goals and consumer expectations.

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