As New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo., celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011, the craft brewery had grown from brewing 60 cases a week at the home of co-founders Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan in 1991, to selling more than 700,000 barrels of beer a year. When the co-founders created what Jordan calls their “magical experiment,” they compiled a list of the company’s core values and beliefs that would be used to guide them on their journey, including “Continuous, innovative quality and efficiency improvements.”
In 2000, after a number of years of contemplation, New Belgium’s principals made the pivotal decision to capitalize on the increasing popularity of their beers and initiate a continuous growth strategy for the company and its brands. This full-speed-ahead approach created the need for more efficient and reliable inventory tracking in its production, bottling, warehousing and shipping operations.