Vancouver Island 3PL Drink Distribution is shaking up the craft beer scene in British Columbia, unlocking flexibility to deliver small batch delivery and customizable services for small business craft liquor distributors.

“The craft beer market in BC is a bit of a unique one. It's controlled and regulated through the BC liquor board, [they] and some third-party distributors provide large batch deliveries— but none of them allow for the new up-and-coming small producers to get their product to market,” said Drink Distribution General Manager Dave Dallin.

“That's where we step in. We fill that level void that allows us to give them the treatment they deserve. They’re working on great products — and we want that product to be in the people's mouths.”

Others have attempted the small batch distribution in BC before, however, limited operational flexibility prevented the service from delivering sustainable revenue… until now.

Drink Distribution found the solution they needed with top-rated WMS/TMS software provider CartonCloud.

CartonCloud’s integrated, cloud-based Warehouse and Transport Management System delivered the flexibility, customization, and automation Drink Distribution needed for their small team to manage their diverse customer needs with accuracy and ease — and to deliver a change to the craft brewery industry.

“We chose CartonCloud, which allowed us to manage the warehouse and transportation. … from our product, [from] our warehouse to the customer, and last-mile delivery,” Mr Dallin said.

For the team at Drink, having an end-to-end system that can manage all of their orders, from warehouse management to transport and delivery, including automated rates and automated invoicing — is a game changer.

“The process is really simple,” Mr Dallin explains.

“Most importantly, it's simple for the producers. With CartonCloud, [our producers] send their product to us, and then the next thing they really care about is when they can bill for it. So we take care of the rest, and we use CartonCloud on the mobile app and desktop for that.

“[Our customers] can see when it comes into the warehouse, when the product gets picked, when it gets packed, when it gets on the truck — they can see exactly when it was signed for the end user, and they're able to then process their payments from there, all through the one system.”

CartonCloud Implementation Consultant Mitch Whitnack Worked alongside Dave and the team at Drink Distribution through their exploration of the software, and in ensuring they had the exact setup and features they needed to be successful.

“One of the big things the team needed was a way to work with the documentation required for craft liquor distribution,” Mr Whitnack explained.

Coming from a logistics background, and having worked in the craft beer distribution industry himself, Mitch was able to provide expert advice and support to assist the team at Drink to determine the ideal workflows they needed to succeed in this space.

“Our team are logistics people too, we have a range of logistics industry experience across our company which enables us to build software that is built for the exact needs of our customers, and to deliver expert advice to our customers to help them unlock every feature and workflow they need — and customize in the way that is best for them.

“The best part — is it’s so intuitive to learn, onboarding typically takes only 5-6 hours, and then they are up and running. It’s weeks and even months shorter than the onboarding times for other software companies — because, we know that our customers don’t have that time to waste.”

For Drink Distribution Delivery Specialist Kierden Buchanan, this intuitive and user-centric design has simplified his operations from warehouse management to delivery, and even training their drivers to use the system.

“Everyone loves it. Everyone seems to think it's quite simple to use,” said Mr Buchanan.

“It's simple to use. It's a 15-minute walk-through to learn our system — to teach a new driver and warehouse person our system through CartonCloud. They just download their app and use it. It's intuitive and user-friendly, and it makes our jobs a breeze.”

With accuracy and flexibility unlocked, and the capacity to do more with their small team of six, Drink Distribution has revolutionized their delivery to the craft liquor scene in British Columbia.