Information Technology at the Tequila Industry

In the more than 25 years that I have been working in the world of Information Technology (IT), I have seen how our lives have dramatically changed during this time. I find all this vertiginous everyday changes fascinating although on the other hand, I am alarmed by the way some people make an immoral, ilegal and irresponsible use of them.

It is a controversial topic since everyone has their own point of view on the matter but, if we focus on the positive side and act responsibly, we can really make a positive difference in our lives. Discover how we use technology in the tequila industry to optimize work, information and productivity.

Information Technology at Casa Sauza

My focus has always been the implementation of systems in order to improve the processes of companies. Therefore, telecommunications, mobile devices and drones (lately) have become my allies.

It is core to our philosophy at Casa Sauza and to the TPM pillar to which I belong (Administrative and Work Improvement) to work on the following issues:

• Avoid repetitive tasks that could be carried out by machines and that add no value to either the operator or the company (touchness)
• Minimize the use of paper (paperless)
• Simplify processes (lean)

As telecommunications have been advancing in the area of the Denomination of Origin of Tequila, we have been able to develop and implement systems that allow us employees to have a better quality of life, which has also helped to increase our computer knowledge at all of the organization's levels. For instance, by using our mobile devices, information can be recorded (either manually or by automation) at the very same time and place where it has been first produced. This information is immediately synchronized with our ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), which is a SAP that helps us have a single source of online information, available to whoever needs it, whenever they need it.

Two of the most recent and innovative projects in which we have been working on are:

iLean project.

The implementation of iLean, by means of tablets that help to capture records online, gives the company a kind of "digital nervous system", which informs in real time what is happening in the plant with the processes of: material reception, storage, material supply, production material and shipments.
This increases the possibilities of working efficiently and maintaining all the traceability of our processes and materials. Working together with the Supply Chain and infrastructure area, the process has been simplified by a 40%.

Drone inventories

Following its tradition of innovation, Casa Sauza is currently working on a project called "Smart Agriculture", which is based on the technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), equipped with smart cameras that capture detailed information of our agave crops, increasing the precision and periodicity of the analyses carried out by our agronomic teams.

In both projects we are using cutting-edge technology to simplify tasks, increase knowledge, and increase our plant's productivity to levels that would have been impossible to achieve with the old paper-based systems.

Know more about our modernization processes by reading this blog .

Come and visit Casa Sauza so you can learn how the modernization of our production processes deliver the purest tequila that you will find in the market.