St. Patrick’s Day represents the pinnacle of the St. James Gate Brewery’s supply chain management prowess. Each year the company gears up for the March holiday like most companies prepare for the Christmas season. This is because the joy that St. James Gate Brewery spreads comes in the form of Guinness beer.
As the world celebrates St. Patrick’s Day, I would like to take a moment to recognize the Herculean supply chain exercise that St. James Gate undertakes annually to bring Guinness to bars, restaurants, and homes around the world. The process starts with planning and forecasting demand, then coordinating with suppliers to ensure the right materials, of the right quality, are delivered in sync with production schedules. To make the Guinness consumed on St. Patrick’s Day, the brewery needs to acquire and coordinate the delivery of over 600,000 lbs. of barley alone. The inbound supply chain needs to be coordinated across the 49 countries where Guinness is brewed.
The outbound logistics is no walk in the park either. To satisfy demand for the approximately 13 million pints of Guinness that will be consumed today, St. James Gate will need to distribute 6,500 tons of beer across 150 countries. So as we enjoy St. Patrick’s Day’s most popular beer today, it is only fair to take a moment to appreciate the supply chain accomplishments that brought those pints into our hands.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone.