How Marisco reaps the benefits of using vWork
Established by renowned winemaker, Brent Marris, Marisco Vineyards is based in the Marlborough region, New Zealand. The vision behind the award-winning brand is to build a family legacy for generations to come. And since launching The Ned brand, in 2006, the business now has seven different wine brands, has won numerous wine awards and 80% of production is exported overseas.
Challenge
To better manage the annual grape harvest by developing an effective daily picking plan and establishing a clear communication system for all parties involved in its execution. The company needed a solution that could handle multiple vineyards, sites, and grape varieties while providing comprehensive visibility into the harvest progress.
Solution
vWork was implemented to manage the grape harvest process by handling multiple work orders across various vineyards, establishing a foundation for business process optimization, and providing setup support. The system created customized templates and offered the ability to hibernate between seasons while preserving data.
Outcome
The implementation eliminated paper documentation, provided real-time harvest visibility to all stakeholders, enhanced transparency about delays, and delivered cost efficiency through a flexible payment model. The system was implemented smoothly with minimal disruption and excellent ongoing support.
“We couldn’t be happier with how vWork has worked out for us. When we discovered that vWork could help us manage our harvest more efficiently, without an IT department of our own, we were delighted.”
Leigh Davidson, Marisco Vineyards
Building a world-class business harvest by harvest
Today, the business has five vineyards, two state-of-the-art wineries and a team of 85 full-time employees. HR and HS Coordinator, Leigh Davidson manages the HR & HS function for the viticulture side of the business. However, during the annual harvest, she takes on the role of ‘Harvesting scheduler extraordinaire’.
Leigh says; “Harvest is once a year – and for those two months, it is extremely busy – working 7 days per week 12 hours each day. As a business, we recognised the need for simpler, more automated planning tools to support growth. One part of this was having an effective planning and communication tool to assist with harvest management.”
Software bears fruit for grape harvest
Since starting using vWork, Leigh and the wider team has welcomed the increase in visibility and clarity over the harvest. Leigh has set up each block code with its vineyard address, variety and location on vineyard. During harvest, the winemakers and viticulturalists work together to agree which grapes must be picked and when. Their work is captured on whiteboards. And Leigh then enters the daily picking plan into vWork and schedules jobs to each of the 6 supervisors in the field.
During harvest, a lot can change. vWork allows the winemaking and viticultural teams the ability to be flexible and make changes to the picking plans whilst continuing to taste the grapes across the company vineyards and analysing grape sample results to ensure they get the best quality fruit to the winery.
With vWork, each supervisor captures information at the end of each job, such as what machinery was used, whether there are grapes remaining on the vines and if there is any damage to the blocks. Email alerts send information to the harvest planning team, winemakers and transport managers if a pick has been delayed or is incomplete.
Leigh is pleased with the result: “We couldn’t be happier with how vWork has worked out for us. We are a team of people who love working outside and with grapes. So, when we discovered that vWork could help us manage our harvest more easily, without having an IT department of our own, we were delighted. And of course, being able to remove any scheduling errors is invaluable.”
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“The team at vWork understood our objectives. And answered all our questions quickly and professionally. Their support has allowed us to use vWork to its full potential.”
Leigh Davidson
Marisco Vineyards