For companies involved in manufacturing products, maintaining strict compliance with specific specifications and regulations is crucial, for things like food safety, organics and market entry requirements.
In the winemaking industry, Vinsight has introduced an innovative feature called “Operation Categories” – your secret weapon for managing compliance and traceability effortlessly throughout the manufacturing journey.
So what are Operation Categories?
Operation Categories in Vinsight are used to define and track important compliance information about products as they progress through different stages of the manufacturing process. From Bulk Receivals to Harvest Entries and beyond, these categories provide a seamless link, carrying crucial data from one operation to another.
To initiate Operation Categories, winemakers can define them in Bulk Receivals or Harvest Entries. These categories will automatically carry over to any related Operations. Alternatively, it is possible to create categories directly on the Operations themselves. Once an Operation is completed, the categories applied to the Vessel will be carried forward to the next Operation in the process.
How do you edit or add them?
Operation Categories can be easily edited, allowing businesses to refine or update compliance information as needed. However, it’s important to note that existing categories cannot be directly changed without an operation. Instead, winemakers can delete the current category and then add a new one to update the data using an operation to do this. To keep things tidy, all changes made to categories are recorded as an audit trail, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Let’s look at ‘Addition Categories’ and ‘Autofilling’
In addition to primary Operation Categories, businesses have the flexibility to manually add and edit categories for Additions. Moreover, Vinsight offers the convenience of autofill categories for Additives based on predefined Product Categories. This automation ensures that important compliance information is easily populated when using specific Additives. On top of that, if there are overlapping categories, they will be merged into one during completion.
Efficient Transfers, Blends, and Packaging Operations
Operation Categories extend their utility to Transfers and Blends as well. During a Transfer, categories are simply copied from one Vessel to another. Similarly, for Blends, filling Vessels combine the categories of the emptying Vessels. Packaging Operations also carry over Vessel categories, making it easy to trace product attributes from the Vessel to the packaged finished item.
Let’s have a look at some practical examples of using Categories for Traceability
- Organics Example: Suppose a winery uses organic fruit and wants to label the finished product accordingly. By creating an “Organic” category during Harvest Entries, they can easily identify batches to be treated as organic and manage processes and additives compatible with organic products.
- EU Restrictions Example: For wines intended for the European market, the winery can set a “European Market” category during Bulk Receivals. They can then define specific restrictions as categories for Additives used in the process. By flagging the additive categories to carry over to Operations, the winery can proactively identify and address any issues regarding product specifications and market compliance.
Vinsight’s Operation Categories offer winemakers and cellar hands a user-friendly and efficient solution for managing compliance and traceability throughout the winemaking process. By creating, editing, and using categories wisely, companies can ensure adherence to specific regulations and customer requirements. Ultimately, this feature helps businesses to produce high-quality wines while ensuring a smooth and organised workflow.
