Help I am loosing a fortune

[andysoho]

I own a bar in soho I have four small floors which all dispense draught. Currently I am having horendous stock problems where staff are giving away free drinks or are exchanging drinks for cash which goes in their pockets rather than the tills. I have cctv and am employing mystery shoppers. However, the bars are extremely busy at night and it is difficult to catch them but giving product away. I have got a person that checks the stock every day now on certain items and the problem is reducing in all areas excluding draught which I have no way of accurately measuring.

I am going through 40 11 gallon kegs a week and I am probably loosing 25% or more each week. I used a company called brulines and their data took over a week to get back to me. I need a real time system even if it is as basic as flow meters in the lines which I could check at the start of the shift and at the end of the shift for each line and then compare this to the till data. Can anyone help please.

Are the systems that dispense only a single pint/half any good and if so where do i get them.

I also have a problem whereby in warm weather the beer seems to fob alot - not just at keg change. I have a remote cooler in the cellar and flash coolers under every bar and I am using mixed gas. However, I still seem to loose alot of beer from fobbing.

HELP ME PLEASE [V]

Regards Andy



Andy Jones

[ANT MAN]

hey andy, where are you located again, i would love to have some free GUINNESS.

sorry man good luck to ya.

[Scott Zuhse]

Andy, please call our customer service number @ 866 327-4159. Ask for Scott's cell number so that we can discuss your issues.

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute

[EZM]

Was there ever a response to "andysoho" on the subject of available systems in the market for monitoring beer dispensing?

[topgun3208]

probably not, as you can see in the post above yours, he was told to call customer service and ask for Scotts #

[USMC - Retired]

Why not just weigh the kegs at the beginning and end of each day? Then it’s just a simple matter of math…

Semper Fi,
The Gunns

"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin

[EZM]

I was hopeful that Scott would have provided an update to the symptoms experienced by Andy. When you have multiple locations and as many as 12 taps in a single location, it would be nice to have a soltuion better than a scale. Flow meters makes sense, if only there was a system to gather and display the data.

[Scott Zuhse]

Unfortunately, most systems available either cause dispensing problems or can easily be overcome by staff. The best method that I am aware of is to physically measure inventory on a regular basis. There are companies that will inventory not just the draught but all bar inventory and report removals to the gram. Most certainly, if the receipts do not match the removals, there probably needs to be a significant intervention as to staff training and policy.

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute

[Scott Zuhse]

Additionally, the overall set-up of Andysoho's system is such that we would need to know a significant amount of additional information about his system prior to solving his fobbing problem. This is why we encourage posts such as these to call us. It is much easier to solve problems over the phone. We realize that this does not help the forum members much, but eventually we will have commercial troubleshooting available and FAQ on this site.

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute

[EZM]

Thanks Scott - I appreciate the response

[Ian Foster]

I have two suggestions.

One, call a company called Bevinco at 1-888-Bevinco or www.bevinco.com . They are an inventory control company and they will weigh your kegs and match up your usage to sales. As the moderator said, this is the only fool-proof way to get a handle on this stuff.

Second, there is a company out of Wisconsin that sells something that might help. Check out www.turbotap.com

Ian

[Scott Zuhse]

Ian,

Thanks fore the recommendation on Bevinco. As to the Turbotap, very innovative but has absolutely nothing to do with inventory control or the quality of the product.

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute

[tikithed]

This is a problem with bartenders serving friends under the table & cash in their pockets. I wonder if there is a flow meter tap that will put out 1 pint only, like the 1 ounce shot dispencers. Just a thought. Also you can dock your I guess floor/bar managers for the shortages per day. IE weight proir to open & weight at open the next day. It is a harsh reaction to your problem, but it is also your money going into your bartenders pockets. Good luck with the issues. Let us know everything goes.

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Go Mavericks!!!

[CSweet]

I've had pretty good success with Sprint Enterprises' Beer Guardian.

It's based on a in-line turbine design that measures beer usage for each beer line without weighing, etc. The best part is also its simplicity.

A simple digital counter is mounted in our office (the measuring turbines are at the kegs in the cooler) and we take beginning and ending shift reads of each meter. A simple calculation of sales into ounces vs. usage in ounces and voila instant control. A simple form can suffice for perpetual inventory tracking and later calculation.

Of course, depending on the number of stations, etc., you may want to add more meters for finer accountability. But it won't impact the beer quality or taste.

You can get more info at www.sprintent.com

[Scott Zuhse]

Check out www.bevinco.com. They have the capabilities to weigh all open inventory and compare this to removals. Bartenders who see the Bevinco label normally are on the straight and narrow due to the success of Bevinco's programs.

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute