TrenStar Inc. will buy, track and manage the additional keg fleets acquired in 2003 by Scottish & Newcastles U.K. division from the countrys leading cider producer HP Bulmers and in 2004 from the Federation Northern Clubs operation.
The deal adds more than 600,000 kegs to the original 1.9 million that TrenStars U.K. operating division bought in 2002 from S&N UK and is managing for the brewer over the 15-year term of the contract. TrenStar will begin installing TrenStarCM, its container management software, and begin outfitting the additional containers with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.
In line with S&N UKs quality culture, TrenStar has worked closely with the brewer to identify areas that could be positively impacted by the new technology, including the area of preventive maintenance where the technology will help to further reduce keg failures.
S&N UK was the first brewer in the world to experiment with RFID on a large scale and TrenStars first U.K. client for an outsourcing service that now encompasses a majority of kegs in the U.K. TrenStar intends to begin a test program this summer for pooling and sourcing common, non-competitive assets and activities of multiple brewers designed to enable a lower average cost. S&N UK is a founding pool member.
TrenStar plays a fundamental role in our operations strategy, so much so that we are in negotiations to expand our mobile asset management solution to other Scottish & Newcastle holdings, said Stephen Glancey, Scottish & Newcastle plcs group operations director.
Weve joined with TrenStar in a series of firsts, said Jon Gillespie, group distribution director, Scottish & Newcastle plc, the latest being that we are the first client to expand our original landmark agreement. We anticipate another first when pooling becomes a reality, but in the meantime we will continue to give TrenStar our asset management business as we add to our fleet because of the savings and other benefits were enjoying as an individual client and because of the significant benefits that pooling across our industry can bring us.
We are finding new ways to add value to our mobile asset management solution for S&N UK, said TrenStar president and chief executive officer Greg Cronin. Our intent has always been to function as their partner rather than solution provider, and the extension of our original deal with them is evidence that weve achieved this goal. We will continue to support their growth and their endeavor to gain competitive advantage.
Add a Comment
No messages on this article yet