Program Book - Master Brewers Association of the Americas

P-206
Developing the next breed of brewers in the 21st century
MARCO GARCIA (1)
(1) Miller Brewing Company
The playing field of the brewing industry has changed drastically
over the millennia with multiple technological advancements
and, more recently, the globalization of the industry. The modern
brewing company needs to develop and train the next generation
of brewers so they may enter the industry at an accelerated pace
and continue the life-long learning process from there on. Miller
Brewing Company has developed a training framework to give
new talent a strong foundation in the industry and is currently
completing its second year of training. The training takes the
young brewer through two phases: the first phase is an extended
introduction to the industry and all the operations of the plant where
the trainee can delve into projects while learning about the area. The
second phase allows the trainee to dive deeper into their functional
area in a role that floats between improving process operations,
managing operations, and other miscellaneous functions, all with
the primary objective of absorbing as much information as possible.
The trainee’s performance is evaluated at regular intervals by
all levels of the company’s operations staff culminating in a final
evaluation at the end of the program. After the final evaluation,
the trainee is then placed in an operations management position.
The program framework in a sense embraces the old proverb that,
“it takes a village to raise a child.” This presentation is a first-hand
account of the program, projects and expectations faced while in the
program and beyond.
Marco Garcia received a BSE in biomedical engineering and a
B.S. degree in mathematics from Duke University in 2002. Marco
discovered homebrewing while working as a middle school teacher
in Austin, TX, and decided to pursue a new career in the brewing
industry. Marco attended the University of California at Davis
to study brewing chemistry in the Food Science Department and
received his M.S. degree in 2006. While a student at UCD, he worked
as an intern with Anheuser-Busch at both the Van Nuys and Fairfield
breweries. In 2006, he sat for the IBD Diploma of Brewing (formerly
the AME) qualification and passed all three examinations with
distinction. Upon completion of his degree, Marco accepted a position
with Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, WI, in the new
operations management trainee program. After graduating from the
program in December 2007, he accepted a position as a work group
manager in the Brewing Department at the Ft. Worth brewery. Marco
was a recipient of the Brian Williams Scholarship in 2005 and has
been the Spanish abstractor for the ASBC Journal since the summer of
2006.
P-207
Regional characteristics-based brewery factory restructuring
and its benefits
ATSUO GIMA (1), Yoshinobu Kamiya (1), Yoshikazu Higa (1),
Yasushi Oshiro (1), Masayoshi Kinjyo (1), Yuko Takagi (1), Tomoaki
Hishida (2)
(1) Orion Breweries, Ltd., Nago Brewery, Nago-City, Japan; (2)
Asahi Breweries, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
We, Orion Breweries, Ltd., restructured our workplace based
on our midterm management plan with a view to increasing the
functionality as an organization and reducing costs. The renewal of
the control system to monitor the production process has been also
executed effectively with “the integration of brewing department
and power-related department” in mind. The result showed that
we were successful in reducing the workforce required in both
departments from 45 to 17 persons. Moreover, we were able to
enhance our engineering performance by making effective use of
the staff who were freed from former tasks. Specifically, a debug
laboratory was created in the engineering department to test and
develop our original software programs, which is conducive to
lower facility costs and a shorter construction period. The amount
of money saved in six months was 15 million yen (from April to
September 2007). Though it cannot be estimated in figures, the
greatest benefit of this restructuring is that it made it possible to
monitor and control both the energy (utility) process, which was
in charge of the power-related department, and brewing quality,
which was in charge of the brewing department, together in the
same place. This mutual monitoring system enables us to react to
accidents expeditiously and prevents troubles. Another merit lies
in the fact that it has improved the skill and motivation of our staff.
The “restructuring” we have accomplished is not the last step but
the first step. We have a few more challenges for the future. One is
that all staff members obtain the abilities to do mutual monitoring
in every section. In addition, by improving the abilities and skills
of individual members and increasing the range of work they can
do, some can afford to be involved in work other than routine,
and “improvement of work environments” will be continued and
expanded. Our main office and factory are in Okinawa island,
located in the south of Japan, which has a different climate and
culture from those of mainland Japan. In Okinawa, we have worked
under the concept of “Yuimaru”, which is a unique dialect meaning
“working in cooperation”. With this spirit peculiar to Okinawa, we
intend to make the best use of the effect of our restructuring and
advance toward our project.
Atsuo Gima graduated from the University of Ryukyus in 1992,
majoring in chemistry. He joined Orion Breweries Ltd. in 1992 as
a Brewing Section staff member of the Nago brewery. From 1992 to
2007, he worked on the development of brewing techniques. In 2007,
he was assigned to the Quality Control Section.
P-208
Withdrawn
167