Rye River Brewing Company: 52% Reduction in Inventory Reconciliation Time
How an employee-led Lean project transformed finished goods inventory management — eliminating €23,400 in annual waste and achieving 93% racking accuracy.
Lean Business Case Study 2 — Inventory Cycle
Our second case study was identified by an employee. It related to Finished Goods Inventory Cycle. She saw a number of issues that she wanted to address:
- The book stock didn’t match the physical stock on the premises.
- The physical stock didn’t match the racking boards.
- Unauthorised personnel were moving stock within the brewery.
- It was time consuming to organise the book to physical reconciliation.
- This all led to unfulfilled customer orders and lost sales.
- She calculated the company was wasting approximately €23,400 per year (10–15 hours per week, average costs €300–450).
From Inventory Chaos to Measurable Accuracy
Key Challenges
The company set out to achieve the following goals:
- Increase the accuracy of the racking board to 95%
- Improve traceability of the products
- Save time on stock reconciliation
- Increase book stock record accuracy
The Lean Solution
Using the 8-Step Problem-Solving Process and a team brainstorming event, the employee led targeted countermeasures.
- Updated QC template with count check space
- Introduced lot numbers and best-before-end dates on aisle sheets
- Redesigned record pages on domestic boards with date and count fields
- Changed counting process to only count after production is finished
- Restricted to one open half-pallet per product at a time
- Trained staff on picking process and stock movement authorisation
- Introduced weekly floor meetings to improve communication
8-Step Problem-Solving Process
In trying to solve a particular problem, we advise using the 8-Step Problem-Solving Process.
Problem
Defined the inventory mismatch and its business impact — lost sales, wasted time, and inaccurate records.
Current State
Mapped the existing inventory cycle end-to-end, documenting where book, physical, and racking records diverged.
Target
Set a target of 95% racking accuracy and a significant reduction in weekly reconciliation hours.
Root Cause
Identified root causes through team brainstorming, then prioritised solutions using an Impact/Ease Chart.
Select Countermeasures
Categorised ideas into four groups: Just Do It, Why Not?, Projects, and Not Now — based on impact and ease.
Implementation
Rolled out changes across QC templates, racking boards, counting processes, and staff training.
Evaluation
Measured results against targets — achieving 52% cycle time reduction and 93% racking accuracy.
Standardisation
Standardised new processes and documented learnings for continuous improvement across the brewery.
Brainstorming & Impact/Ease Prioritisation
We collaborated with Rye River to set up a Brainstorming Event. The team presented the problem statement and current process. We asked everyone for their opinions and they wrote their ideas (big and small) on post-it notes.
Then, we put all these ideas on an Impact/Ease Chart to assess the potential impact or benefits they will have on the company. The result is a visual representation of where best to assign time and resources. We don’t discard any issues as their assessment may change over time as other problems are resolved.
Just Do It
High impact, easy to do now.
Why Not?
Low impact, easy to address.
Projects
High impact, difficult to address.
Not Now
Low impact, difficult to address.
Countermeasures Implemented
The team identified a list of issues and countermeasures which they implemented:
- QC template update. Changed QC page adding count check space.
- No more than one half pallet per product. Avoided opening more than one pallet per product.
- Lack of lot numbers on aisle sheet. Introduced lot numbers and BBE.
- Re-design record pages on domestic boards. Added space for date and number when cases are taken off the location.
- Counting during production. Rectified by counting stock only when production is finished.
- Lack of understanding of picking process. Recognised need to train staff.
- Unauthorised staff moving stock. Recognised need to train personnel on this issue.
- More communication. Held weekly meetings on the factory floor.
Learnings
- Incorrect records and mistakes lead to time wasted.
- Culture change takes time and persistence.
- Team effort was essential to achieve a good result.
- Communication helped us to discover the source of the problems and develop a way of fixing them.
“Our mission is to make great beer. We strive to make every drop of it just as good as the last.”
Celbridge, Co. Kildare
Empowering People to Improve Their Own Processes
We firmly believe that the expertise to develop business process improvements already exist in every organisation. This has clearly been the case in Rye River Brewing Company. Through their employees’ Lean projects, the company has made significant continuous improvements to their business.
Lean Teams has worked with Rye River Brewing Company to streamline their business and improve their processes. You may be interested in reading the two other case studies featured here: Case Study 1 – Wasted Time and Case Study 3 – Forecasting Racking. All our case studies are available here.
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Discover how this lean inventory case study highlights the transformation in inventory management and efficiency.