Colorado State University Fermentation Science Program Selects Crafted ERP

Colorado State University has selected Crafted ERP to educate Fermentation Science and Technology students on how a software solution can and should complement the data management that accompanies the science and art of brewing and fermentation.

CSU Instructor and Brewmaster Jeff Biegert stated: “We run a world-class fermentation science program in a state where we’re surrounded by the pioneers of the craft beer movement from the last three decades, and two of the largest brewers in the world. Our students expect our program to prepare them with best practices in brewing and fermentation management, and, we needed software that embodied that same expectation. Crafted ERP was the best choice for us as it meets real-world, enterprise standards, with features that allow for ease of use in a classroom environment.”

Leveraging his 27 years of experience across all aspects of production, Biegert wanted to offer his students more than just the science behind fermentation. He wanted to give them a real taste of the production process and all the critical control/data capture points that impact supply chain and inventory management, business decision-making, process analysis and, ultimately, beer quality.

“A proper business software should show you not only what’s happening in production and inventory but allow each department to see how they’re impacting the rest of the organization,” Biegert said. “It’s information in one location, and, it’s one source of the truth. In my experience, data from different sources don’t always agree, and that can present a real challenge when making quality and efficiency decisions. Crafted ERP is really a holistic solution, exactly what CSU was looking to leverage as we teach the next generation of brewers and food scientists.”

Biegert’s position at CSU is partially sponsored by New Belgium Brewing Company, where he has worked in various capacities over the last 17-plus years. These include brewing, fermentation, feasibility and project management, and Lean Six Sigma process improvement and optimization. He has intimate knowledge of the manufacturing process, track and trace, inventory reporting and accounting, and SQL data analytics. He assisted with New Belgium’s implementation of manufacturing software as well as the maintenance and integration challenges with New Belgium’s IT and process automation teams for over a decade. Biegert understands the need for a seamless flow of information that’s not interrupted by disparate systems or IT headaches that can come with on-premise software.

There are challenges in collecting data throughout the brewing process and having a system that allows users ease of access to data, and analysis of that data eradicated those challenges. Because Crafted is both a cloud-native application as well as a single end-to-end solution that required no IT and no integrations, Biegert quickly gained the support of the rest of his CSU colleagues for the selection.