Hello my name is Anne Mignard and I invite you through the ZNet podcasts. en to discover the world of digital transformation in small and very small businesses.
Today I take you to a somewhat magical place. In Bordeaux, in the town of Saint Emilion. Very close to a small river, is the castle mill of Lagnet. So obviously when we say castle, we imagine Versailles, Chenonceau…no, you’re not there. A castle in this region is a wine estate… so I go to Anne Lise who, with her son and her daughter-in-law, produce the tastiest nectar…
So why bring you to this little corner of paradise? Well quite simply because between the time when Anne Lise started producing wine and today, new technologies have changed people’s habits.
With each invoice issued, the bottles sold are deducted from the stock
Simple example first, you know that every end of summer and beginning of autumn in this region we pick the grapes. Well, the mobile phone has saved time and above all energy for the whole harvest team. Why ? Well, when you are in the cellar, where the wine is stored, and when a vat is full, you have to warn those who are in the vineyards. Otherwise, they continue to pick and bring reason when the cive to welcome it is not ready.
Another utility and not the least, the weather forecast, thanks to the internet today Anne Lise and her team can consult the weather forecast daily, and even come across several of them…and suddenly if rain is announced, no need to treat the vine…because the water will wash everything away.
The estate may have been a pioneer in organic wine, but the fact remains that natural treatments are essential and can also be expensive. So save them! Computers also allow the castle to know its stocks. For each invoice issued, the bottles sold are deducted. And now, the inventory is only done once a year.
Repair machines through the Internet
Obviously, via the internet, there is the whole commercial part. Thanks to the site and e-mail exchanges, the operation has developed….And then the internet is also useful to Olivier, Anne Mise’s son, when he has to repair an agricultural machine.
In a few clicks, he finds the part he needs directly and which he sometimes needs very quickly. The vine is always subject to the whims of the weather.
And then there are also all the mandatory administrative declarations such as customs, today everything is done online, explains the winegrower, which she partly regrets. Certainly we gain in speed and clarity sometimes but understand that next to my house, there is an old operator who is over 90 years old…go and tell him to declare the little wine that is produced by internet. ..plague her. Luckily she’s in charge.
Finally, Anne Lise admits, yes the internet is convenient for many things but so time-consuming. When we started in 1984, I spent one day a week sitting behind my desk, today I’m there every day….and I, she says, I much prefer being in my vines.