Beverage Metrics, a California start-up, has commercially released its inventory and drink pour-management system for liquor and wine. Currently, the system is being trialed by half a dozen hotels, restaurants and casinos to reduce shrinkage and provide a better view into the inventory of beer, wine and hard liquor.
The company uses RFID battery-powered tags, readers and software from sister firms to provide the Beverage Metrics Complete Solution that tracks bottles of liquor. A bar's manager can use the system to measure how much liquor a bartender pours per drink, based on a tilt sensor in the RFID tag, which operates at 919 MHz and uses a proprietary air-interface protocol. That data is intended to prevent excessive pours or other shrinkage issues (such as pouring drinks that aren't billed for). In addition, the system can provide detailed bar reports at banquets, which can aid in billing customers, such as wedding parties, by tracking exactly how much bottled liquor or wine was poured. If customers choose, they can also use the system to receive an alert if a bottle of liquor or wine disappears from the system (and therefore may have been stolen) or update inventory data to notify management when additional inventory needs to be ordered.
