Elevating Clonakilla Winery: A Tale of Inventory Excellence with SMB Consultants

Clonakilla’s collaboration with SMB Consultants liberated them from an outdated ERP system, enabling them to achieve a comprehensive solution they had envisioned for a decade.

The Beginnings: A Legacy in the Making

In 1971, Dr. John Kirk embarked on a bold venture by planting his first vines in the Canberra region, specifically choosing Shiraz grapes due to the climatic similarities with renowned European wine regions. This marked the inception of Clonakilla, named after his grandfather’s farm in County Clare, Ireland.

Over the ensuing fifty years, Clonakilla's 40 acres have produced world-renowned Shiraz, Riesling, and Viognier wines, earning numerous accolades. Despite this success, Clonakilla has maintained a unique business model, selling directly to businesses and the public from their cellar door, bypassing distributors. This approach has imposed specific demands on their administrative, resource, and inventory management systems.

David Reist, General Manager and Sales & Marketing Director at Clonakilla, has overseen the company's growth. He spearheaded the transition from a retired ERP system to a modern solution that enhanced their stock management capabilities.

Organic Growth and Distribution Challenges

Clonakilla has been a significant player in establishing Canberra as a prominent wine-producing region since the 1970s. Their influence grew notably in the 1990s with the introduction of their signature Shiraz Viognier, which garnered significant accolades. Under Tim Kirk's leadership, the family business continued to focus on the domestic market and self-distribution across Australia, a rarity among vintners of any size.

David recalls, “The wines used to be hand carried around to various retailers and restaurants. Tim did this himself with a backpack on his back, popping into Sydney restaurants here and there, trying to convince people that Canberra District could actually make a decent wine.”

He adds, “Distribution costs around 30 percent of your sales, so if you can avoid that, then you’re in a much better position. Now we’re producing and distributing upwards of 20,000 cases of wine every year – and we still get to oversee those direct relationships with our clients.”

While the manual distribution methods have evolved, the administrative tasks have grown more complex. About fifteen years ago, David initiated the company’s digital transformation, adopting a system to handle online orders, invoicing, and trade orders. However, this system had its limitations.

David explains, “In my mind, I had a diagram – two, three inputs, and a central hub to control everything. But I couldn’t get it to happen. So we just had to keep working, shipping our products out. And being the size of business we are and were, I didn’t have a department to go to and say, ‘Can you just fix all this and build something for me?’”

The Need for a Modern Solution

One of the top priorities was a system capable of handling the wine equalization tax (WET). David recalls, “15 years ago, it took specialized software and programmers to include this sort of feature – but even then, it didn’t show on invoices.”

Eventually, Clonakilla adopted TradeGecko for backend inventory management and Vend for their POS system, which resolved many issues but was not a complete solution. David notes, “We had issues integrating with our cellar door, so our point of sale stuff never worked. The tax thing was problematic. But we had these pieces. We got online; we had a lovely website that linked into TradeGecko, and got onto Xero.” However, the integration was not seamless, and the announcement of TradeGecko’s shutdown was a significant setback.

David recounts, “We’d put hours into getting all the settings right. But then they go, ‘Oh, that’s it. Twelve months – we’re going.’ So I got online and started searching again. But I had no mental energy to do all that implementation on my own.”

Partnering with SMB Consultants

David leveraged his relationship with TradeGecko to get a recommendation for a new ERP solution and implementers familiar with WET and the wine industry. This led him to Jeffrey Atizado at SMB Consultants.

Jeffrey recommended Cin7 Omni, a multi-channel inventory management system with built-in EDI and integrations to popular eCommerce platforms, marketplaces, and 3PLs.

David was initially hesitant about implementing another solution but recognized the importance of solid technical support. He states, “We can make all the wine we want, but it’s got to get out of the warehouse and into people’s hands. And because we’re doing everything ourselves, I needed systems that would work – and I needed help in understanding what we could use now. That’s what led us to Cin7, and SMB Consultants – and it was the best decision and the best spend that we’ve done as far as our systems go.”

Achieving Integration and Efficiency

The Cin7-powered solution provided Clonakilla with full integration of their cellar door, POS, trade, and online purchases, all connected to a centralized stock program.

David highlights, “It’s all managed in one place now. And that’s a first, believe it or not, in 50 years of this business. We’re a wine business, not an inventory management company – our focus is on making great wine and getting it out there, so the more we can do that, the better off we are.”

Deepak Stevens, a Sales Implementation Engineer with SMB Consultants, played a crucial role in the project’s success. He explains that Cin7 addressed previous limitations, including the handling of different WET calculations and maintaining invoice formatting for wholesale customers.

Deepak adds, “We manage to carry over that system in Cin7, but include WET calculations for both retail and wholesale, and display the format of the invoice in the same way. That’s a pretty big deal, because the majority of the orders coming through are wholesale. Now it pushes through to Xero.”

Leveraging Starshipit for Fulfillment

Clonakilla also utilized Starshipit for automatic fulfillments, streamlining the dispatch process. Deepak notes, “While there’s a little more complexity, it’s a great system to manage that side of things to support Cin7. And it’s working very well.”

The integration has allowed for clearer sales breakdowns, enhancing business confidence and reducing reliance on accountants for data consolidation. David can now easily access sales data from various channels, providing a comprehensive view of the business.

Deepak explains, “Reporting-wise, we were able to give Clonakilla a clear breakdown between the retail and wholesale sides of the business: now they can see what each one is doing, and also look at the WET tax on both sides. They are able to get a good, clear understanding of the difference between the two. And then David can run a report right now and tell you what they're tracking for the month or for the last quarter – something that’s really helpful for his accountant. Cin7 gets those details.”

Streamlining Operations

The new system has also automated the generation of shipping labels, significantly reducing manual input and improving efficiency. David notes, “We’ve got all this integration that communicates shipping with our customers. That’s a major component. When we do a big wine release, we get maybe 300 orders a day. To be able to process that with ease has saved us the most in actual physical working hours. It’s worked really well.”

Celebrating Success

David is thrilled with the results of Clonakilla’s transition to a Cin7-powered software stack managed by SMB Consultants.

He states, “I really have to say it’s been fantastic. I went overseas for a couple of months – and to know that my people here are in excellent hands, and I can contact SMB Consultants and get very quick responses, is amazing. SMB Consultants have been able to do some customization that we needed, and have been really open to it too, because it’s going to help us.”

With the new system in place, David and the Clonakilla team can focus on their core business of crafting exceptional wines, confident that their operations are efficiently managed. Jeffrey emphasizes the importance of implementing the right workflow to leverage the benefits of an integration.

A Bright Future

David and the team are also developing a new website, transitioning from WooCommerce to Shopify to streamline and future-proof their systems. He has even recommended the new system to a fellow winemaker facing similar challenges.

David concludes, “Clonakilla is seen as a certain leader in the industry, we do get calls here and there about how we’re doing things – and what we’ve done is definitely worth talking about.”