Integration of RFID Technology for

Tracking our Fleet of Kegs

Presented By: Jordan Kivelstadt, Managing Partner

Agenda

• Company Overview

• History and Benefits of Wine on Tap

• Example of Wine On Tap Installation

• Our Kegs and How they Move

• Our Strategic Partners

• RFID Integration

• Question and Answer

Silvertap and Free Flow Wines – Respective

Industry Leaders Under the Same Umbrella

• A premium wine brand

marketed exclusively in kegs

• Largest national wine on tap

brand 3,500 “cases” sold to

YTD2011

• Sonoma County wines

produced by acclaimed

winemaker Bill Knuttel

Silvertap Wines

• The industry leader in wine

keg packaging with more than

20 clients

• Provides custom packaging,

tracking, and support to

wineries

• Proprietary cleaning/filling/

tracking systems

Free Flow Wines

Wine on Tap Has Existed in Many

Different Forms

Wine on tap is not a new idea…

• Existed in Europe for hundreds of years

• Italian producer Montelvini sells over 500,000 kegs of

wine per year!

First attempts in the U.S. failed because of poor wine quality and

a lack of focus on delivery mechanisms

• Anheuser Busch - Master Cellars

• Paul Masson

• Inglenook

Wine on Tap is Changing the Way

Americans Drink

“Wine, stored in keg and served through a method similar to a draft-

beer line [will] be the glorious future of by-the-glass…”

“Sonoma-based Dan Donahoe, one of the first wine-on-tap producers,

told me he sold "the equivalent of 5,000 cases" in 2010 and expects to

sell four to five times that much in 2011.”

“Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants…has launched a new Wine On Tap

program. Emily Wines, director of wines …is leading the draft wine

program through a partnership with Free Flow Wines.”

Marriott, Hilton Hotels, Starwood Hotels &

Resorts, Sodexo, Whole Foods, Kimpton Hotels,

Slanted Door Restaurants, Moana Group

Who is Putting

Wine on Tap?

In spite of growing demand by restaurants and

hotels, few brands are available in keg

Demand is greater

than supply

Why Wine on Tap?Delivers improved quality at a lower cost, increases

margins, decreases carbon footprint

No Spoilage No cork taint, “bottle variation”, or oxidation

Consistency Wine remains fresh; from the first glass to the last

QualityReduced packaging costs provide higher quality wines

at a lower price

GreenCarbon footprint reduced by eliminating packaging: no

bottles, labels, corks, foils or cardboard

Ease of UseWine on tap flows through the same style draft system

as beer

How Green = Better ProfitsThe Cost Benefits of Moving One By-the-Glass Placement to Wine on Tap

• 3 cases a week = ~1,900 bottles a year

• An empty box of glass weighs 18 lbs

No Waste

Saves 1.5 TONS

of trash

• Remove TCA problems (5% of wines)

• No spoilage from oxidation – ¼ bottle for

every 4 bottles poured

The Perfect Pour

Saves $9.45 per

case ($1,500 per

year)

• Without bottles, stocking, rotating,

and disposal is reduced, saving 2 man

hours a day

Efficiency

Saves $1,500 in

Labor

NOTE: Assuming 3 cases per week, $10 an hour for labor, $7 a bottle wholesale price

Kimpton Hotel Palomar

Westwood

Kimpton Hotel Palomar

Westwood

Free Flow Wines has 5,850

GreenCasks in Circulation

• Our GreenCasks are made of PET

plastic, reducing weight to 60%

of metal kegs

• International testing laboratory

showed no taste difference

versus metal kegs

• Made in California, using

renewable energy

• Expected life is 8 years, at

which point they are recycled to

produce new kegs

GreenCasks

• Currently Free Flow owns

• 4,450 20L kegs

• 1,200 15L kegs

• 250 10L kegs

• Approx. 1,400 kegs are on-site

in the winery

• Proprietary Radio Frequency

ID Tag (RFID) system to track

kegs, developed by BIS

Computer Solutions

Cask Fleet and Tracking

Free Flow Wines LogisticsKegs filled at our

winery or at a clients

Distributor pick up kegs from winery/

storage facility

FFW bills distributor for

deposit, credits winery

Distributor delivers full and picks up empty

kegs

FFW ships from your distributor

back to our facility for one low cost

Kegs are inspected,

repaired and cleaned

• Keg Cleaning

• Keg Filling

• Keg Rental

• Deposit Billing

• Keg Tracking

• Compliance Assistance

• Return shipping

Key Services Offered

Free Flow Wines - Strategic

Partnerships• Largest supplier of tap parts in the world

• Industry leader and partner in new product design

• Industry leader in draft system tracking

• Provides key data on utilization and efficiency

• Proprietary keg tracking software• Follows the entire keg “life” using Radio Frequency

Identification (RFID) tags

• National reverse logistics partner

• Eases burden on distributors to return kegs and

handle deposits

MicroMatic: Key to Tap

Installation Success• Largest manufacturer of draft parts

in the world, important Free Flow

partner

• Produced the first “Wine on Tap

Catalog” together with Free Flow

• National network of installers

• Mike Ciaccio: Micro Matic dealer /

installer contact for any market,

nationwide

BIS – Our RFID/Inventory Partner

Established in 1971

Currently Maintains Three Divisions

• Commercial Division

• Government Division

• Mobile Division

Company Locations

• Corporate Headquarters, La Crescenta, CA.

• Italy

• Utah

• New York – Satellite Sales

The Support We Needed to Make

RFID a RealityBIS have a dedicated support team who are available 24/7 to assist you with the solution should additional training or issues accrue

• Support and Developer Certified

• Oracle Certified Developers

• Oracle Certified Database Administrators

• Platinum Oracle Partner

• Member of the Oracle Development Alliance Network

• Microsoft Gold Certified

Our Challenge

• Currently Free Flow has about 6,000 kegs in

circulation – growing to 20,000 this year

• These kegs are cleaned, filled, stored and shipped

from one location

• Key pieces of information to track:

– Is the keg dirty, clean or full?

– Where is it?

– How long has it been there?

– When can we expect to get it back?

Key Considerations in Developing an

Inventory System

When FFW decided to implement an inventory tracking

system – we needed to understand our utilization needs:

• Working in a cold, humid environment

• Tracking lots of small objects (pallets of 20-40 kegs)

• Prevent vendors and restaurants from removing/

destroying tags

RFID is the Almost Ideal Solution

After looking at 2D and 3D barcodes, RFID proved a

better solution for FFW, because:

• We can scan entire pallets in one step

• The RFID tags are hidden in the kegs, protecting them

to the rigors of “a kegs life”

But, there have been challenges:

• Kegs are liquid filled vessels (dampening RFID signal

strength)

• Currently only using handheld readers

How FFW Implemented RFID

UHF DogBone 2 - RFID tag

hidden between chime and

body

2 PSION handheld RFID

scanners

Experiences so far with RIFD

Implementation and Tracking• Benefits to RFID tracking:

– Fast and efficient pallet scanning

– Kegs returned scratched/dented, but RFID tags remain in

great shape

• Challenges with RFID

– Variations in tag readability from keg to keg

– Reading kegs that are not on the pallet being scanned

– Lack of ability to identify the “missing” keg

FFW Plans to Expand RFID

Capabilities and Integration

• Install fixed readers at key stages in the cleaning,

filling, storage, and shipping locations

• Continue to improve RFID location and readability

• Adapt to both plastic and metal kegs

Questions?

Jordan Kivelstadt

Jordan@FreeFlowWines.com