Loop Software began involvement in this industry in 2003 when it was approached to investigate opportunities for improving IT systems for wine packaging. With the lack of suitable available systems Loop Software entered into a joint venture with a leading Australian contract bottling plant to design and develop a commercial system to manage all aspects of wine bottling. This system is called Ozline.

Ozline is a world class system and has had expressions of interest from countries as diverse as the US, New Zealand, Panama and the UK.

Ozline manages all aspects of the wine packaging operation. Linking together dry goods, finished goods and wine management with production scheduling, wine operations, customer management and invoicing.

Ozline is built on a structured SQL Server database and uses the latest Microsoft .Net framework to provide a web based interface.

Ozline is a complex system easily accessible through an intuitive web interface for packaging staff and customers. Access is filtered via a configurable permissions structure with staff only having access to the areas they need and customer access also filtered by company

Using this knowledge base, and in close consultation with other wineries and wine makers, Loop Software developed a range of tools to help with their business processes and record keeping. The tools provide easy access to information which can be searched, manipulated, reported, all the things you can’t do with a spreadsheet or filing cabinet.

Loop Software prides itself on building intuitive and useful software. Users are presented with software that has a familiar look and feel together with a familiarity for the processes. As a company we also have the advantage of working across other industries providing a broad exposure to processes and technology which can be used incorporated into the software to make it even more powerful.

Guy Thomas, the technical director of Loop Software brings together many of his passions to work in this industry. During his former years as Mechanical Engineer he spent many years designing bulk material handling systems specialising in conveyors, pump networks and vessels. He has an in depth understanding of the tight regulations and processes involved in producing and exporting wine and an undeniable passion for software design and development. And then, of course, there is the wine itself.

Loop Software has built up a library of modules that can fit together to build a complete system, or can be purchased separately, depending on your particular requirements. Modules available include:

Blending Tools – a fantastic tool for the winemaker. Allows easy management of blends, allocations and LIP. Data can be entered manually or imported from 3rd party systems, e.g. Ezy Wine in Australia.

Cellar Operations - Create and manage all cellar operations using workflow enabled web based work sheets. Worksheets are based on user customisable templates.

Sample Management – You have the buyer, but when did you mix the sample and what was the blend. Don’t rely on memory or little notes – throw out those spreadsheets and track it using the Trade Samples Request system.

Web Enabling your existing system – Loop Software are specialists in integrating separate systems together under a single web interface making the core business data available to all. Access can be filtered to provide different views of the data based on user roles and customer access.

• Version controlled packaging specifications and bills of material;
• Categorised stock management allowing an extendible, hierarchical model for organising stock;
• Managing, ordering, receiving and despatching customer supplied and purchased dry goods. Dry goods are managed by batch so that oldest stock is used first;
• Wine management for receiving, blending, analysis, additions and all cellar operations. Cellar operations are based on user configurable templates;
• Web based for easy access from anywhere. Filtered customer access to allow them to view and manage their stock and packaging runs - allow your customers to track their own order, from receipt of the wine, bottling run, packing and despatch;
• Forecast tools and reports;
• Operations calendar;
• Production efficiency and productivity analysis;
• Accurate, real time committed stock and material availability reports;
• Scheduling and workflow of packaging jobs with each job taken through an approval process from request to quote to scheduling to packaging and invoicing. A full audit trail is provided of all changes made to the packaging specification;
• Invoices are created directly from packaging runs to ensure all relevant information is captured without the need for extra data entry. Cellar operations can also be included on the invoice;
• Accurate dry goods and wastage tracking;
• Supports and generates bar codes and integrates with Excel and email;
• Click here to view a brief MS PowerPoint presentation of Ozline's primary features. If you do not have MS PowerPoint you can download a free PowerPoint Viewer from Microsoft.