Small Steps, Big Gains: Affordable Efficiency with Winery Automation

The wine industry is undergoing a seismic shift. Changing consumer preferences, generational taste evolution, and a surge of lower-cost grapes and bulk wine from global markets are reshaping the competitive terrain.  To stay ahead, wineries are rethinking their operations, streamlining workflows, expanding outreach, and embracing automation as a strategic lever for growth.

Companies facing financial constraints often turn to automation, a proven strategy that can help reduce labor costs and increase production efficiency in packaging and bottling lines. Among these innovations, packaging automation stands out, delivering measurable cost savings, production agility, and scalable infrastructure, empowering wineries to protect margins and adapt swiftly to market demands.

When financial constraints tighten, automation becomes more than a luxury; it’s a lifeline. For wineries, automating packaging and bottling lines can dramatically reduce labor costs and boost operational efficiency, even when capital is limited. That’s where Clevertech North America comes in.

To help wineries navigate automation without the burden of a full-scale upfront investment, Clevertech North America offers a modular solution designed to grow with winery’s production needs. Leveraging decades of automation expertise, Clevertech delivers fully integrated, customizable systems that align with your specific goals, space constraints, and long-term vision. Instead of requiring a complete end-to-end bottling line from day one, wineries can start with a single component that addresses a pressing need and expand seamlessly over time, building toward a fully automated system at a pace and scale that fits their operation. It’s a smarter, more flexible path to automation that delivers both immediate impact and future-proof scalability.

Oak Ridge Winery: A Modular Success Story
Oak Ridge Winery in Lodi, California, was an early adopter of Clevertech’s modular strategy. Under the leadership of Bottling Manager Steven Uline, the winery implemented three key components: a depalletizer, partition inserter, and case erector. These upgrades enhanced bulk glass packaging and integrated smoothly with their existing line.

Uline says, "These upgrades are part of a larger goal to improve how we handle bulk glass packaging and ensure everything operates seamlessly with the speed and flow of our existing line. Clevertech was able to meet our tight installation deadline without interfering with our production schedule, and their systems offered the advanced diagnostics we needed to eliminate downtime and simplify troubleshooting."

When a winery client engages Clevertech to evaluate its bottling line, the process begins with a collaborative evaluation.

Clevertech's North American Sales Manager, Beth Zarnick-Duffy, explains, "We work with customers to engineer customized equipment that meets their requirements, layout constraints, technical specs, and future expectations."

Clevertech engineers conducted an on-site assessment at Oak Ridge to observe operations, measure line speeds, and identify bottlenecks, and flag safety concerns. The resulting solutions included a depalletizer capable of handling full bulk pallets - reducing forklift reloads and enabling rejection of entire stacks without halting production. The upgraded case erector featured an expanded magazine, allowing operators to load knockdowns more efficiently.

Results That Speak for Themselves
“Since installing the new Clevertech equipment,” adds Uline, “we've seen major improvements in efficiency. Changeovers are faster, and we can diagnose and resolve machine downtime more efficiently. It's made the entire line more productive and easier to manage. The benefits go beyond just speed. Clevertech was committed to coming up with solutions that worked for us. Their team was extremely responsive and really took the time to understand our specific needs. Would I recommend working with Clevertech again? Absolutely!”

Zarnick-Duffy adds that CleverTech's support doesn't stop at installation. "Our clients know that Clevertech is their first point of response and will always answer their call, at any time of the day or night, to help them get their systems up and running. If it can't be done remotely, we'll send someone to fix it."

Clevertech Is Helping Wineries Thrive Amid Industry Disruption
For more information about Clevertech’s modular automation solutions, contact Beth Zarnick-Duffy at b.zarnick@clevertech-group.com to start the conversation.