Smart Keg Monitor Manufacturer Uses John Guest to Meet a Range of Customer Needs
Overview
Kegtron needed a way to support several draft dispense installation variations with one system so that their new keg monitoring system could be accessible to different customers in the beverage industry. In addition, they wanted the installation to be affordable and uncomplicated. After customers began requesting John Guest, Steve Keck, owner of Kegtron, realized it could provide the versatility they were looking for.
Designing One Product for Many Customers
Serving from kegs has traditionally been difficult for businesses to closely manage. Bar managers usually have no direct view of their keg levels nor an accurate serving history. At best, they can lift a keg and guess, look at their register sales or, more often, simply wait for a keg to run out. This lack of visibility leads to poor inventory management, unaccounted losses and reduced profits per keg. Vendors have attempted to solve this with complex keg monitoring systems, but they often required elaborate professional installations with expensive hardware and steep monthly fees. Kegtron wanted to take a different approach. When designing its new line of smart keg monitoring systems, Kegtron Pro, the company wanted to offer a system that was powerful enough to solve this business challenge yet simple enough for anyone to use and install. The next challenge to consider was how to integrate the system with the vast number of draft dispense installation variations around the world. Some may be simple, short-reach “direct draw” installations or elaborate “long-draw” systems. In addition, the draft line tubing material and size can vary. Keck needed a system that was flexible enough to support them all.
A Versatile Solution with John Guest
As a small company launching a new product line, Kegtron couldn’t afford to spend extra money developing multiple product variants to accommodate different fluid fitting types. With John Guest, which their customers asked for by name, Kegtron didn’t have to. The ease of push-fit installation and a wide range of adapters made the RWC brand a natural choice. The flexibility of the John Guest Speedfit system meant that Kegtron Pro could have a single base design with a family of push-fit adapters readily available to meet different customer needs no matter the tubing types and sizes.
Satisfied Customers and Efficient Operations
John Guest fittings help make customers happy with easier installations and make the company’s operations simpler with reduced number of product SKUs, according to Keck. “John Guest fittings gave us the design simplicity and flexibility that our product needed while providing our customers with the ease of use they were asking for,” Keck said. Customers have told him that the systems have saved them time, money and effort by allowing them to see at a glance how much product they have. The flow sensors of Kegtron Pro are integrated with up to eight John Guest Speedfit connections (3/8") per device. John Guest PI251208S adapters are also shipped with every product with many other John Guest adapters available upon request. Without John Guest, the systems would have lacked flexibility and ease of installation and use. That’s exactly what other alternatives struggle with, Keck added.
About Kegtron
Kegtron designs and manufactures intelligent systems for draft dispense applications. The company’s smart keg monitors allow businesses to better manage their beverage inventories, resulting in better efficiencies and increased profits.