VicinityBrew CEO Leads Brewing Automation Keynote at 2014 Automation Conference

Marietta, GA, May 22, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Vicinity Manufacturing™ is pleased to announce that CEO and co-founder, Randy Smith, will be a guest speaker at the 2014 Automation Conference, May 20th in Chicago. Mr. Smith will be co-presenting the session “Automating brewing operations from two different perspectives.” This keynote session will be co-presented by Sierra Nevada, Highland Brewing, and VicinityBrew Software. Whether breweries are just thinking about automating, or are already enjoying the benefits, this session offers practical insights for process automation professionals at a variety of levels.

Joining him in this discussion will be Cory Ross, Senior Project Manager, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Rounding out the panel are John Lyda, Senior Vice President and Brewmaster and Kevin Wheeler, Director of Operations, from Highland Brewing Company. Attendees will hear from Highland Brewing’s Operations Director and Brewmaster about their recent implementation of automation. California-based Sierra Nevada Brewing will share their experiences extending their automation into multiple systems, including VicinityBrew software, as they plan a new location in North Carolina.

Kevin Wheeler, director of operations for Highland Brewing Co., graduated with a degree in history and was working as a mason’s tender, learning the trade of dry-stack stone work in rural New England when he decided to start out on his own somewhere new. He landed a job at Highland Brewing in October of 2001 working on the packaging crew and over the years has grown with the company, first to the role of Packaging Supervisor and then to Operations Manager in 2007. He’s co-presenting with John Lyda, senior vice president and head brewer for Highland for 16 years.

Cory Ross, senior project manager Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., talks about food and beverage manufacturing from a different perspective. He received his degree in industrial technology with a focus in manufacturing management from CSUC and started his career with Sierra Nevada as a bottling line supervisor. In the 15 years he has been with the company, he has managed multiple packaging expansion projects as well as material procurement, and has contributed to growth by installing 7 production lines. Cory was moved into project management for the new brewery expansion and has assisted in the new facility’s construction, commissioning and plant wide network architecture. He is co-presenting with Randy Smith, CEO/founder of Vicinity Manufacturing, providing the corporate and finance view.

Mr. Smith obtained a degree in finance and computer science from the University of Arkansas and worked for the Arthur Andersen and Deloitte and Touche before starting his own consulting firm in 1991. Randy is the CEO and cofounder of Vicinity Manufacturing and VicinityBrew that serves batch-manufacturing companies and the craft brewing industry respectively.

“The partnership with Highland Brewery and Sierra Nevada is born of genuine respect and I feel privileged to be speaking at this year’s Automation Conference. Although these two breweries are radically different in size and scale, they each bring something fresh to the conversation of systems automation. I look forward to joining them in Chicago,” says Randy Smith, CEO and co-founder of Vicinity Manufacturing.

The Automation Conference is an annual gathering of similar automation professionals from every level, representing end user companies and automation technology providers in discrete, continuous process, hybrid processing and packaging industries. The conference format allows ample time for questions and informal networking, and includes tabletop displays of automation equipment and solutions.

About VicinityBrew®: VicinityBrew with Microsoft Dynamics enables breweries to meet fluctuating demands of customer requirements for quality, delivery, and price. Key functionality includes centralized recipe management, quality control, lot traceability and recall, TTB reporting, inventory control, production planning, and scheduling. Vicinity's craft brewing clients include Deschutes Brewery, Highland Brewing Company, Flying Dog Brewery and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.

About Vicinity Manufacturing™: Since 2001 Vicinity Manufacturing has developed software exclusively for the process manufacturing industry. Vicinity software for brewing increases operational efficiency and reduces costs by automating and integrating critical information along the supply chain. As a Microsoft Certified Partner, Vicinity Manufacturing has provided industry leading solutions for batch manufacturing for over a decade. Our clients span across four continents and are comprised of manufacturers from the food, beverage, chemical, paint, coatings, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Vicinity is available as an onsite application or as a subscription.