StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
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the year before. Currently, Wyoming ships an average of 900,000 cases per year and lists 2,100 different products. How- ever, more than 23,000 special order items are available in their database. According to Greg Cook, Adminis- trator of the Wyoming Liquor Distribution Division, special orders are on the rise, increasing by 12% in the past year. Of those special orders, about 85% of them are wine-based. Along with an overall increase of wine sales, Wyoming is also seeing a rise in sales of high-end bourbon and Scotch. "Everyone wants a wine you've never heard of be- fore, or whatever the latest new product is," Cook says. "We get hundreds of new item inquiries each week, and we need to do product research on each and every one of them." For Maurice Brown, owner of Town & Country Su- permarket Liquors in Cheyenne, excellent service and wide product selection are important to his business. His customers appreciate new product offerings, and Brown makes beverage rotation a priority in his store. "We get several deliveries each week. Service is re- liable and the product generally arrives in good condi- tion," Brown said. "There's a large inventory of products to choose from, and the state only charges a $2 service fee for special orders, which is very reasonable." Kevin Georges owns DT's Liquor, a chain of two "combos" in Cheyenne featuring a retail store with a bar in back. Georges estimates that one-third of his sales are from special orders, and appreciates how easy it is to ob- tain a variety of products. "Our relationship with the Liquor Division is top- shelf," Georges states. "We move a lot of product, and working with them is one of the easiest partnerships I've ever had in my entire career in business." Modernizing Processes A long with additional space for more products, the Division's new warehouse facility also allows for separate shipping and receiving areas and an en- hanced conveyor system featuring a 300-foot-long bottle line. These updated facilities have made a tremendous impact on the Division's overall effi ciency. Wyoming split-cases every item it lists, making qual- ity control a challenge. Even though the warehouse only runs one 40-hour shift per week and the number of cases it ships per day is on the rise, it currently boasts a 99.2% accuracy rating, which is its highest ever. The Division attributes this success to the warehouse and technol- ogy upgrades it has undergone over the past two years. In addition to more square footage, the new facility is equipped with 17 dock doors (the old warehouse only had seven). Wyoming has also invested in a state-of-the- art voice technology system. These additional resources have allowed the Division to reassess its bottle-picking and case-picking processes. Using Datria Voice from Knighted, a voice recogni- tion technology, the warehouse has increased its average of picking 60 cases per hour using scanners to picking 100 cases per hour using the new system. The voice-over IP (VoIP) functionality utilizes wireless phones instead of conventional headsets, which communicates directly with Wyoming's warehouse management system. Maury Brown (center), owner of Town & Coun- try Supermarket Liquors, in Cheyenne, with Dan Noble and Greg Cook. Brown noted that the ex- cellent service provided by the Liquor Division is important to his business. Dan Noble (left), Director, Wyoming Department of Revenue, and Greg Cook (right), Administrator, Wyoming Liquor Distribution Division, fl ank Kevin and Ed Georges, owners of DT's Liquor in Chey- enne, WY, who term their relationship with the Liquor Division as "top-shelf." StateWays Q www.stateways.com Q July/August 2014 12