# Smart Manufacturing in the Brewing Industry (Pt. 1 of 2)

- Show: [Manufacturing Happy Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour)
- Published: 2020-08-04
- Length: 31m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-08-04-smart-manufacturing-in-the-brewing-industry-pt-1-of-2
- Listen: http://manufacturinghappyhour.com/brewing

## Summary

Steve Grundy, founder of Top 5 Solutions, moderates a panel with Connor MacDonald of McRae Integration, Stephen Rich of Cowbell Brewing, and Nicholas Chan, former Molson Coors engineering director, to discuss smart manufacturing in brewing. The group defines smart manufacturing as using data from sensors and automation to make faster, better decisions, citing a case where removing manual acknowledgments increased throughput from 8 to 11.5 brews. Stephen Rich details Cowbell Brewing’s sustainability efforts, including rectification technology that reduced boil times and water usage, and a closed-loop water system. The panel emphasizes that flexibility, sustainability, and technology must be balanced with people and processes to handle the modern portfolio of beverage brands.

## Chapters

- [0:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-08-04-smart-manufacturing-in-the-brewing-industry-pt-1-of-2#t=40) Introduction: Panelists and Smart Manufacturing Definition
- [7:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-08-04-smart-manufacturing-in-the-brewing-industry-pt-1-of-2#t=432) Technology and Data: Centralization and Throughput
- [10:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-08-04-smart-manufacturing-in-the-brewing-industry-pt-1-of-2#t=640) Flexibility: Managing Beverage Portfolios and Trends
- [16:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-08-04-smart-manufacturing-in-the-brewing-industry-pt-1-of-2#t=963) Sustainability: Water, Energy, and Carbon Footprint
- [28:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-08-04-smart-manufacturing-in-the-brewing-industry-pt-1-of-2#t=1724) Conclusion: People, Process, and Systems

## Topics

- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)
- [Mechanical engineering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/mechanical-engineering)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Top 5 Solutions (company)
- McRae Integration (company)
- Cowbell Brewing (company)
- Molson Coors (company)
- Rockwell (company)
- Brewers Association (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [When Legacy Thinking Gets in the Way of Manufacturing Innovation w/ Annie Lu](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-06-16-when-legacy-thinking-gets-in-the-way-of-manufacturing-innovation-w-annie-lu) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [#040 - Beer as you don’t know it - a startup bringing you the freshest craft beer possible, with Jong-Wook Shin of HOPii, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-10-25-040-beer-as-you-dont-know-it-a-startup-bringing-you-the-freshest-craft-beer-poss) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [Innovating Sustainable, Reliable, and Productive Technologies with David Vasko](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2023-04-27-innovating-sustainable-reliable-and-productive-technologies-with-david-vasko) (Over the Air)
- [Brewing Electronics with Eli Hughes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-10-05-brewing-electronics-with-eli-hughes) (The Amp Hour)
- [Back to the Future: The Manufacturing Edition](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2022-06-14-back-to-the-future-the-manufacturing-edition) (The Manufacturing Executive)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2020-08-04-smart-manufacturing-in-the-brewing-industry-pt-1-of-2. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Manufacturing Happy Hour.