Starting a brewery is hard work. In the beginning and even up through the first 2 years everyone involved is wearing multiple hats, working long hours and feels like the work is never finished. During this grind performance metrics last thing on anyone’s mind.
Successful breweries are placing equipment performance metrics on the top of their list. Equipment performance metrics are standard procedures to make sure you are getting the most out of your machines. If done consistently, they can uncover problems before the equipment stops working on you.
Take the time, early, to set up performance metrics. Work with the people who sold you your equipment to understand what it was designed to do. Have them provide you a 3, 6, 9, 12 month output chart, and the maintenance required to achieve max performance. Establish targets and track the equipment performance from the beginning. Tracking performance doesn’t have to be complicated, it can be done very quickly in a spreadsheet. Ideally, you would review the numbers on a weekly basis and course correct based on your results. Here are some examples of useful metrics:
|
Performance Metric |
Calculation | What are we trying to measure |
|
Brewery Output |
Bbl/hr | Is the brewery yield meeting the design yield? |
|
Right First Time |
Good Batches/Total Batches |
How often do batches have to be adjusted or finished product has to be reworked |
|
Bottling Throughput |
Actual case/hr vs Design case/hr |
Is the bottling line running at least 85% of its design throughput? |
|
Compliance to Schedule |
Case produced/case planned |
Are you producing enough to meet orders? |
| Machine Availability | Uptime/Req’d Production Time |
Is your equipment available to run when you need it? |
The metrics I listed above are basic ones you can implement within a month. Grab your brewmaster, packaging lead and any maintenance support to share these with them. If you start with these, I know it will reduce any equipment downtime you experience.