Santiago Frías

President
Bodegas Riojanas

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“We create moments of happiness by bringing together tradition and innovation”

The digitalization of the wine sector has unlocked the door to great opportunities for growth. Wineries have moved towards new formulas by renewing their processes and services, boosting their growth and competitiveness and reducing their environmental footprint. Bodegas Riojanas, a family-owned company founded in 1890, is working to be part of this digital revolution without giving up the essence of its more than 130 years of history.

“Our goal is to create moments of shared happiness for customers by making unique, close, quality, environmentally and economically sustainable wines, combining tradition and innovation at all times”, says Santiago Frías, president of the Cenicero-based company.

The integration of digital technology in different areas entails a cultural and logistical change in the working method of the companies. In the case of Bodegas Riojanas, since its beginnings, the transformation began to develop gradually and naturally. “The first step was taken in 2004 with the introduction of an ERP – enterprise resource planning” recalls Frías. This is a management system that allows the traceability of all the processes of a company, making it possible to plan and optimize resources.

Frías underlines the importance of computerizing the information that was previously reflected on paper, a process that for the winery “was more tedious than drastic”, he says. A few years later, the winery incorporated its label reader in order to facilitate this task. “Through the smart guns, the data was reported directly to the ERP. The rest of the changes were implemented gradually over the years, some complementary to the ERP and others trying to meet the needs that arose over time”.

The winery has also developed digital improvements in the barrel cleaning system, wine tourism reservation management, server migration, vineyard control and the production line, among others. “One of the main changes has been the incorporation of an IT expert. With his help, we are now able to analyze and monitor processes, optimizing and improving times and results, eliminating duplication of tasks and reducing costs and human errors”.

The winery highlights the enormous reduction in human intervention as new technological measures are incorporated, although, for its managers, the work of its professionals “will always continue to be necessary”. “Throughout the process of change, we have relied on highly qualified human resources, allowing the essence and tradition to remain intact”, he says.

Digital helps to convert processes into data, with customer experience being a very important aspect to measure the evolution of changes. “It is difficult for a client to perceive a noticeable improvement in a short period of time, since the advances occur continuously and the company’s adaptation is gradual”, the firm points out.

In the case of Bodegas Riojanas, the effort has been focused on improving order processing and response, speed of service, personalization and customer service. “It is true that it has required a great effort of adaptation on the part of the winery’s professionals. When you have been working with a certain method for years, there is a certain resistance to change. Fortunately, in the end we have always succeeded”, confesses its representative.

In recent years, companies in the wine sector have detected certain widespread technological needs: it is necessary to know the status of their vineyards in real time, to control the bottling line and to improve digital indicators.

Together with cybersecurity, wine tourism and the importance of data have also occupied one of the main places in these improvement programs. For the winery, collaboration between companies in the digital transformation is vital: “We have worked with companies such as JIG in the web, wine tourism and data management areas and with other technology providers in the fields of sustainability, eco-design, implementation of the new ERP and in the development of barcode readers”.

Creating a collaborative network produces a multiplier effect that benefits both wineries and technology companies. Therefore, for Bodegas Riojanas it is essential to move forward together to obtain results that guarantee greater adaptation and dynamization of the sector.