Watch the Insider Interview: Why Industry Leaders Integrate Everything

Watch the Insider Interview: Why Industry Leaders Integrate Everything

A cross-tier conversation on the role of technology in the beverage industry and what you can do now to take your business to the next level.

 

In this 40 minute cross-tier discussion, Brad Windecker (President of Orchestra + Encompass), Phillip Bates (Production Coordinator at Night Shift Brewing), and Matt Schulman (Co-founder of Sarene Craft Beer Distributors), dive in to answer these key questions:

1. What is the current state of technology in business integration?

2. What are the best-run beverage businesses doing, and why?

3. What can I do?

In the first 15 minutes, Brad outlines the state of the industry and how businesses have adapted to it from an operations and technology perspective through the Covid pandemic. The last 25 minutes, Phillip and Matt join to share their insights on what's really going on in the market and how they've approached these challenging times.

Presenters:

Brad Windecker

President, Encompass Technologies + Orchestra Software

Brad Windecker is the founder of Orchestra and president of newly merged Encompass + Orchestra, the leading ERP company to the regulated beverage industry. Since founding Orchestra in 2008, Brad has worked with hundreds of craft breweries as the industry has developed. He brings years of experience and a unique business and technology-oriented perspective to the brewing industry. United with Encompass, he is pursuing his vision for a truly connected supply chain for the first time in history. By connecting the three-tier system, the industry will have a single source of truth for operations, data, and decision making.

Phillip Bates

Production Coordinator, Night Shift Brewing

Phillip Bates is the Production Coordinator at Night Shift Brewing, a regional craft brewery based in Everett, MA. His career in the brewing industry began in 2015 while he was attending graduate school, when he was hired as the doorman at Night Shift's taproom. After two years of working in the taproom and upon completion of his MBA, Night Shift hired him into his current role, where he is responsible for inventory management, raw materials procurement, demand planning, and business intelligence functions.

Matt Schulman

Co-founder, Sarene Craft Beer Distributors

Matt started his post-college career spending seven years at a craft beer focused wholesaler where he gained an understanding of the industry, and in particular, the need for better representation for breweries in an ever-growing craft beer market. In an effort to bring better beer to his home state of New York, and perhaps expanding (legally) on his great-grandfather's prohibition era moonshining days, Matt left his job as a sales manager at said wholesaler in 2013 to co-found Sarene Craft Beer Distributors with his brother, cousin, and college best friend. What started out as a scrappy wholesaler servicing just New York City, Sarene has expanded into a fully-fledged craft beer distribution network spanning 5 states and representing some of the best breweries in the world. Under the guidance of Matt and his co-founders, Sarene has garnered numerous accolades over the years including Wholesaler of the Year from Lawson's Finest Liquids at their inaugural distributor summit, and the co-founders being named to the 10 Most Influential Beer Drinkers in America list by Men's Journal.