Pelican has three breweries and brewpubs in the Portland area, and produces nearly 50,000 barrels (approximately six million litres) a year.

It makes beer on demand for its retail and consumer customers, and so needed software that could provide better insights to help it identify and resolve issues, improve efficiency, and reduce waste.

"We had used other software before, but it never had the right levels of automation or any real-time data," said Pelican director of brewing operations Martin Bills.

"My ears are well trained – I can tell if there's an issue on the line, and in time I can figure out the cause. But OFS gives me and my team that information in real time so we can resolve it and get back to making beer."

The OFS implementation took less than a day.

The software is fed by sensors on the filling and packing lines, and this data is combined this with insights from line operators to identify and reduce inefficiencies and waste.

OFS' software has helped Pelican optimise the daily startup processes, which include sanitation and initial quality assurance and quality control procedures.

The OFS trial at Pelican revealed that one of the biggest causes of unplanned downtime was cardboard boxes that didn't fold properly due to quality issues, and this allowed the company to hold its supplier to account.

Other production issues identified by the software include hundreds of short stops the filler and crowner (ie, the bottling process), and slower than rated operation of one of the canning lines, which has now been improved by more than 10%.

"We're enjoying much higher visibility across our brewing operations," said Bills.

"Over time, that data can inform our expansion and ensure we're maximising our efficiency and reducing waste as we increase output. As a passionate brewer, we simply want to make more exceptional beer for our customers – OFS shows us the right questions to ask and the answers to do that."

OFS CEO James Magee thinks the company's software can become as widely used in the US as it is in Australia, where customers include Stomping Ground Brewing, Brick Lane Brewing, Tribe Breweries, Moon Dog, and Stone & Wood.

"We conducted an industry report focusing on US and Australian brewers and found that craft brewers typically spend more than half their time not making beer," he said.

"That's not a desired state for any craft brewer, and at the core of it the issue is data – or a lack of how to measure performance and make the right changes based on it. This ultimately leads to bad days on the brewing packing line, and we're on a campaign to relegate those days to the past. Pelican understands this link incredibly well and is making the right data decisions for better days and better beer."

OFS is currently engaged in proof-of-concept trials with an unspecified number of other breweries in the US.