Dairy.com intends to bring MES solution into brewing industry

Dairy.com, America's largest independent supply chain technology provider, recently acquired Mr. Milkman (India startup) for marking their entry in India. Keeping in line with their expansion strategy, Dairy.com (DDC Group) and Mr. Milkman are now planning to provide Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) solutions and services into brewery, distillery and ethanol production by joining hands with Orbis (now a part of DDC group). In an exclusive interview Bizz Buzz, Ryan Mertes, CSO, Dairy.com, talks about long-term goals of Dairy.com in India and internationally market

We are the largest software provider to the US dairy market. It was natural for us to want to enter the world's largest dairy market. As we learned more about the Indian market, it was easy to see the potential that Orbis MES would have for the brewery, distillery, and dairy markets. We have a world class client portfolio producing brands such as Guinness Beer, Jameson, Baileys, and Johnnie Walker. The Indian alcohol sector is rapidly growing and has the same needs as these brands

What does Dairy.com bring to the Indian market?

We believe technology is more than just software. As such, we bring software solutions and people from within the industry to solve the unique problems encountered by beverage industries. The Orbis MES system maximizes profitability for alcohol producers by tracking the supply chain from receiving, to brew house efficiency/ fermentation and tracking all process and quality factors throughout the manufacturing process.

An example of our solutions is our scheduling module which allows an existing brewer to increase the volume processed within their plant by 25 per cent without having to expand. This has helped the customer to grow their business during the pandemic. It is a fitting example of how our technology can unlock value at any plant.

What are some of the key reasons for entering the Indian market?

We are the largest software provider to the US dairy market. It was natural for us to want to enter the world's largest dairy market. As we learned more about the Indian market, it was easy to see the potential that Orbis MES would have for the brewery, distillery, and dairy markets. We have a world class client portfolio producing brands such as Guinness Beer, Jameson, Baileys, and Johnnie Walker. The Indian alcohol sector is rapidly growing and has the same needs as these brands.

What are long-term goals for Dairy.com in India and internationally?

Our mission is to help feed a growing world. We believe this can only occur with a connected supply chain. This includes connecting farms with plants. This connected supply chain increases transparency, reduces costs, and provides customers with assurance product quality.

What will be your revenue figures for organic and inorganic growth?

We do not share specific numbers, but I can share expected revenue from India which is likely to grow over 200 per cent in 2022 with future growth equal to those amounts.

Furthermore, we completed six acquisitions in 2021 that resulted in more than four times our revenue in 2020. We are always looking for companies that provide unique value to customers and have a management team looking to succeed.

What is the nature of your tie-up with Mr. Milkman?

Mr. Milkman was a 100 per cent purchase transaction. However, we knew the only way to make the transaction a success was retaining the Mr. Milkman management. We are proud to say the management team remains with us and are excited about the future together.

What synergies do you expect from the tie-up?

We believe we will grow faster by having someone local who knows the market to help guide us through the differences that make India unique. Everyone wants to purchase from someone who understands their needs. We believe our combined experiences in India; the United States and European Union will offer our customers a 'best of both worlds' when it comes to technology.

We expect to set up a center of excellence in India to provide our customers with 24/7 development and support for our mission critical applications. Customers expect our applications to have great support behind it. This allows us to recruit employees who are working standard business hours but provide that 24/7 support to customers anywhere around the world.

How is Mr. Milkman evolving in the Indian market?

The dairy market is extremely cost focused. Mr. Milkman automates the last mile for delivery. Previously, this was a very manual section of the Indian supply chain. Mr. Milkman provides brands with great looking, cost-effective portal for their customers to order, pay and communicate with the brand. Mr. Milkman increases the business to consumer revenues on average over 100 per cent from start up, eliminates unnecessary stops, reduces waste and eliminates paper. As most are aware, Delhi is starting to allow alcohol deliveries. We believe Mr. Milkman helps anyone serving the business to consumer market for almost any product.

What are your growth expectations post the tie-up?

As outlined under earlier, we expect to grow revenues over 200 per cent in 2022. We expect a similar growth pattern for 2023. Currently, we are investing heavily into people. We are more than doubling the size of our staff in the first half of 2022. This increased staff will allow Mr. Milkman to deliver solutions faster, including functionality for the business-to-business market. This is a significant milestone for Mr. Milkman that was previously directly toward to the business to consumer space.

Which is going to be your target audience in terms of consumers?

Our consumers are executive and operational management team members. Executive management focuses on metrics such as sustainability, quality and mass balancing of their plant. Plant operations typically gravitate to our ability to eliminate all manual paperwork, track all aspects of production to allow for quick 'root cause' analysis on any issue and maximize yields.

Which industry do you plan to target and what solutions do you plan to provide to each industry?

Orbis MES target medium and large producers within the brewery, distillery, and dairy industries. We have found that most producers have an abundance of data, but little actionable information to improve operations. Orbis MES solves this by capturing all data into a 'single source of truth' to allow everyone to focus on improving the process instead of validating the data. Our solutions include:

- Visual Factory: Identifies historical trends by generating graphics and other visuals of plant KPI's for any date/time within the system database (typically 8 years)

- Paperless Factory: Allows users to create paperless forms from Excel worksheet but also capture data from floor instruments to streamline data entry and provide automated alerts to potential issues.

- Track & Trace: Improves the manufacturing process by tracking everything from raw ingredients to finished product with all process data being captured. This streamline

- Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE): Improve efficiency by assessing the performance of your critical assets such as a bottling or key line. Customer's average a 5 per cent increase in OEE using this module reducing their costs.

- Mass Balance, Yield & Loss: Identifies sources of waste with clear visibility to the source of loss throughout the plant.

- Utilities: Capture your electric, steam and effluent data. This links to your production data and provides insights to minimize costs and increase sustainability. Customers average 3 to 6 per cent reduction in their utility and effluent bills.

- Analytics & KPI's: Provides automatic alerts when key performance indicators dip below your desired thresholds.

- Scheduling: Optimizes vessel usage inside the plant to maximize the amount of product from the site.