7
Zoeterwoude brewery
rolls up its sleeves
Stefan van de Berg
again a world beater
at regatta in Nassau
Efficient and cost-
saving computer network
at Dreher-ltaly
Alfred Heineken Tulip
christened with brew water
Closure of Amsterdam brewery:
As will be known, the Heineken brewery in Amsterdam
will close down in mid-1988. This will also have an
impact on the brewery in Zoeterwoude. Not only will
most of the Amsterdam personnel be transferred to
Zoeterwoude, but some changes will also be needed
within the brewery itself.
In the early 'eighties the need for a new form of compu
terised information supply made itself felt more and
more at Birra Dreher. If you have to take decisions
quickly, you need to have all information quickly to
hand. The Dreher management decided to start using
the Hewlett Packard computer networking system.
Today, in 1987, the system still functions optimally and
the specialists expect that the computer system will still
meet the requirements in five years' time.
In fact, the bulk of the Amsterdam
brewery's output will have to be
brewed in Zoeterwoude. A start
has meanwhile been made on expand
ing the capacity at Zoeterwoude.
A new bottling line is being built.
This super-modem line has a filling
capacity of50,000 bottles an hour and
will provisionally be used to bottle
beer for the Dutch home market. In
future the line may possibly also be
used for export beer.
Besides the new bottling line, an extra
filter will be installed, whilst three
new forklift trucks will be added to
the fleet. The total investment
amounts to more than 32 million
guilders.
Mr. H. Kloek, works manager at
Heineken Zoeterwoude, explains the
steps being taken to alleviate the
consequences for personnel: "A great
deal of care is being devoted to the
transfer of the Amsterdam workforce
to Zoeterwoude. We hold frequent
talks to ensure that the right man will
be given the right job. In Zoeter
woude the vacancies are currently
filled by contract labour. At the mo
ment the brewery closes in Amster
dam, our Amsterdam colleagues can
start work in Zoeterwoude".
To make the transition as smooth as
possible, small teams have been
formed in each Zoeterwoude depart
ment to familiarise the newcomers
and help them to settle in.
At the Los Angeles Olympics three years ago he won a gold medal for his sensatio
nal performances in the windsurfing eventsStefan van de Berg is his name and he
hails from Holland. Some time ago, during the fourth Annual Bahamas Internati
onal Windsurfer Regatta, he proved that he's still worthy of his title when he took
first place in the final classification. The contests, organised by a Bahamas hotel,
were co-sponsored by Heineken. The Olympic champion was photographed
after the races. On a surfboard with a Heineken sail, of course!
The tulip bulbs were planted out on the site of the Heineken brewery in
Zoeterwoude on 17 November last year. By the beginning of May this year the
yellow-and-white Alfred Heineken Tulips were in full bloom. And so it was
time for the official baptism of this new tulip variety.
Almost fifty tulips blossoming on the brewery site were baptised with a libation
of brew water by Mr. Heineken personally.
The Alfred Heineken Tulip will not be available in bigger quantities until the
1990s and Heineken has ordered a fair number of the bulbs. "Only then will we
be able to use some of the tulips as, say, a gift to our business relations. And, who
knows, perhaps in a number of years we can plant out a bed of Heineken Tulips
at our branches throughout the world, just like here in Zoeterwoude", says
Mr. Heineken.
explains Mr. G.N. Giorgi, head of
the computer department in Milan.
The data for processing may relate to
stock figures from the depots or
details of the brewing process. "Each
Dreher depot has its own terminal,
so that stock levels and sales figures
can be transmitted at very high speed
to the brewery computer in Milan.
The next day it is possible to read
straight away from a print-out by the
main computer in Milan what action
needs to be taken", says Mr. Giorgi.
The computers in the breweries
are operated and controlled by a
group of Dreher computer specialists
in Milan. With the greatest of ease the
figures can be displayed on the
screen in Milan for, say, the stock of
Heineken beer in the Brindisi depot
in the south of Italy. But at the press
of a few buttons the computer in
Popoli can also be used to retrieve
and display the figures for Pedavena
on its monitor.
The possibilities of the Dreher com
puter system are countless. Not only
details about sales and stocks can be
processed. Information on produc
tion, distribution and the purchase of
raw materials can also be collated by
the computer and transmitted to
Milan.
You might think that such an ad
vanced system would cost the earth
to run. But you'd be wrong.
Mr. Giorgi: "Since we have no com
puter specialists in the breweries and
control everything centrally from
Milan, the personnel costs are very
low".
Mr. G. N. Giorgi works in Milan and is
head ofBirra Dreher's computer
department.
For a computer system a period
of more than ten years is very
long, as it is scarcely possible to
keep abreast of the developments in
this field. So, seven years ago, Dreher
chose a system that was well ahead of
its time, in Milan - where the Dreher
head office is located - there is the
central computer, which is linked to
the computers in the breweries by a
telephone line in the form of a circle.
The link route is Milan - Macomer -
Massafra - Popoli - Pedavena -
Milan. For the S.P.A.I. brewery in
Cagliari - in which Dreher acquired a
majority holding last year - a sepa
rate telephone line is used.
"The great advantage of this system
is that it allows each computer to
be operated independently of the
computer in Milan. If breakdowns
occur in Milan, they have no effect
on the other computers. They can
simply continue processing the data",