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Brick Brewing Company

www.brickbeer.com

Jim Brickman wasn’t satisfied. He had a vision and a taste for something better and his journey to realize that has become a local success story. In 1979 Jim Brickman, the now president and founder of Brick Brewing Co. Limited asked himself, "Why are the choices and styles of beer available getting smaller? Where's the variety?" Having enjoyed the experiences, tastes and occasions of drinking beer in Europe, he thought, "Maybe I should start brewing a beer that I really like and market it." Five years later and against many obstacles, Jim was granted the first new brewer's license in Eastern Canada in 37 years and opened Canada's first true craft brewery.

His vision to create a great local brewery that provided a distinct variety of beers to compete against the big breweries was going to be a challenge, but he had the passion and the determination to succeed. Jim and his team deserve recognition for their efforts in combating the clout of Molson and Labatt in the Ontario market. In the 21 years since, the brewery has increased its annual sales from 35,000 cases of beer in its first year to more than 2.1 million cases this past year. Brick has grown from a single brand portfolio to a diverse array of 7 distinct styles produced today.

Jim Brickman's vision for "something different" is clearly evident in his legacy of being first off the mark. Brick is the pioneer and creator of many brewing innovations. Brick Brewery was the first North American brewery to utilize the European cold-filtration technique which is commonplace with many North American brewers today. Brick’s quality of product has been recognized by the international brewing community with 43 top awards. When he took his company public in December of 1986, the local community rallied and the offering was sold out in 4 days. People are still telling Jim how they remember receiving a Brick share certificate as a stocking-stuffer.

"Having been in the craft brewing business as long as anybody in Canada, and watching and learning as others joined the market, it's clear that the notion of variety in beer gets stronger every day.” says Jim Brickman. “That's why our beer reflects a multitude of tastes, attitudes, moods and cultural traditions. I'm proud that each of our brands has its own defining characteristics."

With his vision of remaining true to his roots, Jim has continued to build his breweries capacity and diversity. As time passed, it became evident to Jim and his team that Brick Brewing needed a system that would help them with their warehouse, inventory, distribution and financials. With Brick’s growth and acquisition of other breweries, it was also important to be able to manage multiple locations.

It was early in 2005 when the Brick Brewing Co. Limited "Asked Dave" what the best solution to their financial, human resources and payroll, and distribution challenges might be. At the time, Brick’s financials system had no integration into their warehouse, inventory or retail store systems. Purchase orders were being done manually and purchasing had limited visibility of inventory to know when the right time to order product was.

The team at Second Foundation Consulting was able to identify the right solution that would meet Brick’s current and expanding needs. After an extensive 5 month project of planning, development, implementation, migration, and training Brick Brewing now runs Epicor enterprise as their ERP solution. Production orders are entered into the system and when a batch of beer is queued into production, inventory is automatically updated for the raw materials used and the finished goods produced. Second Foundation also integrated the Epicor ERP software into Brick’s internal beer application which links into the LCBO and Beer Stores systems. This provides visibility to products ordered, shipped and received.

Brick’s retail store also required a point of sale solution. Second Foundation stepped up and integrated a solution that met all of their requirements including barcode scanning and cash register.

With the Epicor solution, Brick is able to manage both their brewing locations from a single application. Second Foundation has also set up multi-currency to allow for cash value conversions when dealing with suppliers south of the border. One of the most notable areas where the new system has dramatically helped is in the area of reporting. What was once an arduous process has been simplified. Now, financial and inventory reports can be easily created and processed. As a public company, the need for detailed and accurate reports is extremely important.

Jim Brickman, taking Canadian brewing to new levels… David Popowich and his team, providing the foundation to do it… two local success stories.