A presentation on tagging systems for wine cellar
inventory control, by James Wilson.
Since 1970, 35 years ago, I have held a fascination for the value of uniquely
identifying individual units. In those days as a farmer I watched ear tags being
used on sheep to display their individual information. Different coloured tags were
placed in selected right and left ears to create a form of semaphore. The confusion
of colours and position generally led to the need for a notebook as a reminder of
their meanings.
This led me to develop tagging systems which displayed a single and unique number for
each animal. The notebook then carried all the information relating to the number of
each animal. Confusion vanished and accuracy was assured. Various iterations of the
unique numbering principal led me to develop many other applications both in and out
of the farming world. The computer made the principal of infinite numbering systems
work even better.
In developing warehousing systems, I introduced the concept of uniquely numbering each
item in a vast warehouse. Multi millions of numbers are used. One of the prime
advantages is that a well qualified person can check the goods in. The act of
placing a uniquely numbered tag on each unit, becomes a guarantee of what the unit
is and an assurance that it was in good order on entry. From then on the unit can be
sought and handled by any unqualified person who has only to refer to a single number;
colour, style, weight, contents or any other feature of the unit is of no interest.
When the goods are shipped the unit is removed from the database, still with no further
reference to any features. This unique numbering is no less complex for a computer
and much more specific than the use of a single product code for all of the same products.
My enthusiasm for unique numbering introduced me to cellaring wine. It was only
after I started tagging my bottles and recording the information in a notebook that
I overcame my failure to hold wine for any proper aging. This has led to a passion
for wine and wine cellaring and further lifted my conviction that uniquely numbered
bottles are the essence of an accurate inventory.
We have grown from little stick-on labels applied to the top of bottles, which
always fell off after a year or so, to well proven pre-printed numbered and barcoded
tags; in conjunction with excellent software to manage the inventory. However the
principal has not changed.
Let us consider the good the bad and the ugly of tagging every bottle.
First the ugly.
Many owners of wine like to see their possessions displayed in pristine
condition, with no distracting attachments.
If you are one of those and
can afford the privilege of owning wine which has no associated inventory
control, you are inevitably storing wine which is too old to drink and may
well be opening other wines before they have reached perfect maturity. You
should also be reminded that the Vinoté Wrap Tags are very discreet.
You may consider the tags on a bottle to be unsightly. This is
a minor problem compared to the possible desecration of some of your
wine in both value and taste.
Next the bad.
There is a cost to tagging every bottle, to which many object.
There is also an effort in carrying out this procedure.
Firstly let us address the cost issue. The cost of a pre-printed
numbered tag is considerably less than the cork we throw away, not to
mention the bottle with two finely printed labels. Yet the cost
of a tag can be the reason people reject this method of inventory
control. When we choose to save money by not tagging, we ignore
the fact that untagged wine is going to cost more in wastage. The
cost of a tag is nothing compared to the risk that untagged wines are under.
There is a discipline required to tag and record the wine as it is
brought into the cellar. Those who find it most difficult are those
who do it haphazardly. With a properly set up system the process is
very straightforward. The time spent tagging wines, is considerably
less than the time spent looking for wines that either are not there
or are hidden behind other unrecorded wines. As in a warehouse,
identifying each wine on its entry into the cellar means that its
future handling will be accurate and objective.
And now the good.
Wines that are tagged with pre-printed numbered and barcoded tags,
with their data entered into a wine cellar program, become fully
trackable and traceable. From this moment until selection for opening,
the wine will rest in the cellar and when the time comes, the bottle
will be found with ease and the database updated with effectively.
You can read more about how Vinoté works here .
There is an interesting comparison between fully and partially
accurate inventories. A wine selected from a fully accurate inventory
is chosen with the sure knowledge that the wine is there and that the
timing of the opening is correct. The moment an inventory becomes
partially accurate, the wine selection cannot be made with full confidence.
This leads to wine being occasionally selected by pulling a bottle
out in the cellar. Without tags this action only exacerbates the
problem thereby rendering as useless any work done on getting an inventory set up.
Proper, ongoing, accurate inventory control is second only to
the wine purchase in cellaring importance.
Without good inventory control, your investment in wine is put at extreme risk.
Here is a list of a few of the many advantages of applying a
pre-printed uniquely numbered tag to every bottle.
- Speed - there is no need to pedantically record each cell
where a wine is stored.
- Precision - a unique number and barcode means that every
single bottle is treated as a distinctive unit and so each bottle is treated individually.
- Integrity - there is no corruption of data. For its entire
life, in and out of the cellar, every bottle is reliably accounted for.
- Location - finding a wine using the numbered tags is quicker
and more foolproof than any other option.
- Longevity - Vinoté tags will outlive bottle labels
in a high humidity cellar.
- Durability - even if inadvertently left in a trouser pocket,
the Vinoté tags can still be fully readable after many wash cycles!
- Accuracy - tags may be held for days after a wine has been
opened and still the database can be accurately updated.
- Convenience - the tag can be retained with the bottle,
until opening. This means that bottles selected for opening
but not used can be returned to the cellar, without any disruption to
the database - a vital factor in inventory integrity.
- Barcodes - a scanner makes the process of entering wines,
using the barcode on the bottle, and reading tags from opened wines so much easier.
Vinoté tags are supplied in sequential order, enabling
the software to know which tag numbers are being allocated. As
each bottle is entered into the wine cellar software
, the next tag out of the box is indicated. Multiple bottles are handled in
just the same way, except that the run of tag numbers are allocated to the
number of bottles entered.
Comparisons with other methods of wine cellar management.
A. Storing each bottle in a specified location in the cellar.
This option is not really a form of inventory control, but merely
a means of finding wines quickly. There are many negatives to such a system.
- Identifying each location and then pedantically placing the wines
in these locations is restrictive and time consuming.
- You still have to look up the location in your cellar management
program. If you use this moment to remove the wine and later wish to
return it to the cellar, you have to go back to the computer to both
reinstate the wine and find its appointed storage space.
- If you choose to select a wine from within the cellar, you have
two risks, you might change your mind and replace the bottle in the
'wrong' location (from the computer's perspective this will become a lost wine),
or you open the wine, throw the bottle out and forget to update your inventory.
Wine and accuracy are not closely related!
B. Storing bottles with hand written tags attached to them.
This also allows for accurate identification of those wines that have
been tagged, but some of the negatives to this practice include;
- No associated inventory control.
- Hand writing on tags is slow.
- The writing can become illegible.
- Many hand written tags do not cling to the bottle effectively and
can often be found on the floor of the cellar.
- The tags are expensive.
C. Storing each bottle in a specified location and
printing a label re-affirming this location.
This option takes you closer to the Vinoté system but
does not have the speed or convenience of pre-printed tags.
Some of the negatives include.
- In actual fact, the cost of printing self adhesive labels is
higher than the cost of using pre-printed tags.
- The time taken to print and adhere labels is prolonged and
distracting from the main purpose of checking the goods in and storing
them as quickly as possible.
- The material and ink are unsuitable for cellaring conditions and
are unlikely to last the full life of a well stored wine.
- You still have to look up the location in your program. You can,
if you are careful, peal off the label and keep it for updating your inventory later.
- If you choose not to open that bottle, you have to return to
your computer, produce another label and then place the wine pedantically
back in the correct location.
D. Storing every wine in nominated areas in your cellar.
We know of people who do this. Many of these have undiscovered wines
languishing in corners. Others have systems which involve moving wines
around at the start of each year, placing those which should be opened
in the next 12 months in a specified area. Some of the negatives of this
system are obvious, despite the professed pleasure the proponents claim.
- The year of opening a wine is but one of the criteria for selection.
There are so many others such as the occasion, the company, the food, even
the mood you are in. The peak year for drinking is just one more.
The flexibility of using a cellar management program to assist in this
selection far outweighs the apparent pleasure in moving your wines each
year, not to mention the disturbance to the wines, which should be left untouched.
- As with so many systems, the failure to record opened wines, which is so easy
to do when there is only an empty bottle to remind you, leads to a faulty inventory.
- There is no summary of what is in the cellar. An inventory will instantly
show you when you have too much or too little of a variety, vintage or region.
Too late to find that out when your visitors arrive.
To summarise
The Vinoté system of numbered and barcoded tags is the most cost
and time effective way of managing an accurate wine inventory, the heart of every good wine cellar.
A uniquely identified bottle is an assurance of care which every wine deserves.
Cents spent on tags will add dollars to your cellar.
The choice between Vinoté Wrap Tags
and Vinoté Neck Tags
is a personal one. Because the all tags carry unique numbers there
is no difficulty in using a packet of each.
Vinoté produces printable tags. These are useful for those who wish to
make their wine selection in the cellar, rather than from their cellar list.
Using
Vinoté+Plus or Uncorked, the tags are printed with wine data, as well as
with a unique number and barcode. Printable tags have some of the advantages
of pre-printed tags, however the inevitable delay in printing the tags before
the wine is put away, can become frustrating.
Read more about placing your
wines and getting the most from your tags
View the Bottle Tag Comparison Chart.
View the Wine Cellar Software Comparison Chart.
