Planning, monitoring and economically accounting for a winery’s activities are central to the success of a modern winery irrespective of its size. Unfortunately, most small and medium wineries rely on simple basic tools to measure and control these aspects. Such tools are normally based on the use of spreadsheets, white boards and paper records. Specific software tools that are presently available for this tasks are often expensive, difficult to run, require large and expensive hardware infrastructure and do not link readily with other systems in the winery. As well, winery record systems are inherently complex: the production process is batch-wise involving differing lot sizes which may require a diverse range of processing methods; the feedstock quality is variable and is strongly influenced by many factors and practices in the vineyard; blending of lots is frequently practised to arrive at the final product for market; and detailed knowledge of the feedstock materials and their processing history is critical in marketing the final product.
Clearly, a fundamental need exists for an economic, flexible and robust software tool which allows the winemaker to develop and modify vintage plans, is capable of tracking and recording the wine’s processing sequence whilst allowing the winemaker to manage all aspects of production process and its costs. This work presents a study of the winemaker’s requirements and elucidates the key features of such a management tool.