Julien Fallet
Transcript (Translated)
I have a website where I published an article about cambon and the wind. And given the feedback I received on that article, I proposed a session here. And so, I tried to expand a bit more on what I wanted to say in those articles. So the idea of this presentation is a pedagogical approach in a way.
What I want to do is share with you the vision of this method. And then, because in fact, we notice that sharing knowledge isn't simple. You can't just arrive somewhere and say, here are the values you should have, these are the schemas, these are the ones to follow. These are somewhat the lessons I took away from this year's Scrum Day. In the end, it's like, okay, I have values, okay, I have my schemas, my Scrum, I know exactly where I'm going, but I can't impose them on others. So, I need to bring them onto my turf, or I need to go see them to propose things. And that's partly why I used the illustration of wine to show these things, to make an impact.
So, we come to the subject that interests us, which is ultimately managing a wine cellar. Now, a cellar, this one is well organized; mine doesn't look like this.
What tools do we have today? We have the cellar book, on paper, which feels a bit... A bit old-fashioned, or an Excel sheet where we track the wines we've bought, consumed, etc.
Well, is that enough to manage a wine cellar? I think so. But can't we ask a few questions to try and improve the management of this wine cellar?
A second observation is that I had discovered this tool, which allows you to visualize, effectively, to store the list of my purchases, my consumption, etc., but also to place my bottles in different locations. It's very practical because it allows me, when I go down to my cellar, to know where to find my bottle. It's well synchronized with reality. That's not always the case. So, by linking these two things, and after having a discussion with another wine enthusiast—since I'm originally from Rennes—with another wine enthusiast, about agile methods, etc., I ended up thinking, ultimately, can't I... Reflect on how to improve the way I manage my wine cellar. So, what were the objectives? After all, if I have a wine cellar, it's to age the wine, etc.
And what I want to have is, when I have an occasion, the wine I'm interested in in my cellar. Because, in addition, I have constraints. Space, the wine cellar, it can take up a lot of room. Money, ultimately, the earlier I buy my wine and age it myself in my own space, the more... I come out ahead, because the wine gains in maturity and is better a few years later. So if I want to be able to... invest in wine and then let it age quietly, I need to be able to keep it, and the incompressible time will allow me to benefit from it. So the idea is, with these constraints, with my space constraints, with my budget constraints, etc. And with the fact that time is incompressible, how do I organize myself so that my wine cellar gives me the best result.
First, I'll start by visualizing this cellar. So, what am I going to visualize? I have a choice, either I visualize glasses. Well, that's not very practical for storing wine, so we won't go with that. Then, there are two potential candidates that are entirely eligible: the bottle or the... Or the case of wine, because it's true that when you buy wine, you generally don't buy just one bottle, because once it's tasted, you think, it would have been good if I had a few more. So, we'll take the bottle first; it seems simpler. We'll follow that.
Next, I'll ask myself, when does this bottle arrive in my cellar? From what moment? It's actually at the time of purchase. So, either I buy en primeur, so it's not physically in my cellar, but I have ordered it, I've paid for it, and I need to track it; it's entered my system. It could be en primeur, which is even earlier, or in a store, especially during wine fairs, which is the season right now. And then I wondered about the exit, when the wine... When does my bottle leave my system? Either I give it as a gift, or during a tasting, this bottle will leave my system. So what I'm going to set up is a visualization of my bottle, since that's my element, and then I'll follow it through all its phases. What are these phases?
Let's say I'll keep a specific column for wines I buy en primeur. There's a specificity, so I'll set them aside.
I have a family secret, which is that to store wine, it's better if it's kept away. So I have two cellars.
One in the East, and I live in the West.
So I have my first cellar, which is rather remote, allowing me to store wine in a way that I don't touch it, in a sense. And then I have a second cellar, because it's still very practical to have the wine you want to consume close to home. If I have to travel 700 km to get it, it's going to be more complicated. So I have these two cellars. It's true, it's not just to add more columns.
And then, in the end, for each wine, I'll keep only two characteristics. It's a bit reductive, but it's the vintage and its aging potential. So ultimately, when the wine enters my cellar, I can define, in advance, from when it's good to drink. At what point its potential is realized, and when its potential will start to degrade, meaning it has reached its peak; if I wait too long, I won't enjoy it as much as I could have.
So those are my steps. I have my element, the framework, and then the different steps. So ultimately, my cellar will look like this. We find the en primeur purchases, my first cellar, the second, so it's the maturation phase. And then here, we'll find the wine that's ready to drink.
I invite you, I have a bit too much stock that will go to waste.
Okay? Is it going well? So I'll take this opportunity to make a first digression. I won't do too much, which is why I put it in parentheses. Ultimately, when you look at wine, you see that before I buy this bottle, a lot of work has been done by the winemaker, by the people who bottled it, etc. And in fact, the bottle I receive is already the result of a lot of work. And then, it's in ideal conditions; there's been a blend made, which will improve it, and it will realize its potential. And in a self-organized way, I don't do anything; I just put it in conditions where this potential... It will be realized. Understood? So this wine is protected from external attacks by the bottle. And then, all I have to do is follow it and wait for the right moment to consume it. It's a manager's dream.
But that didn't happen by itself. There were steps. And we took the time to respect those steps. I wouldn't buy a bottle from a producer who doesn't respect those steps.
The selection phase, the blending phase, then fermentation, and then bottling, which will arrive at the moment when I can buy this wine. So here we can draw a parallel with Tuckman's phases of team creation.
It's not realistic, in a way, to say my team will be self-organized right away. The bottle isn't self-organized right away. We respected phases, steps, and we ended up with a structured whole that will allow it to improve and reach its potential.
There you go. I'll close the parenthesis. Ok? So, we've seen it, we've represented it for now, as steps. So, we're going to try to go a little further to see, ultimately, maybe we can still improve the way I manage my cellar. So, I'm going to try to balance it this time. Balance it in relation to what? In relation to my consumption. So, I haven't done any particular studies to say how much I consume. I'm in the West, so, well.
But still, I respect my space and budget constraints. I have my 300 storage spaces, I have an annual budget. How do I achieve a balance in my cellar with its storage capacity and its replenishment capacity, I would say, in relation to demand? So, this time I'm going to focus on how I consume my wine. So, I drink wine, not daily, but occasionally, let's say. I have regular consumption, occasional consumption, and special occasions.
I don't drink the same wines. I don't drink... How to put it? Haut-Brion every morning. That's not possible. And even, it's not desirable.
And then, I also have unexpected events. I have friends who stop by, etc. In short. Ultimately, the unexpected events will be one of the three occasions that are present. It will be a bit of variability.
So, I'm going to focus... Sorry.
Well, because I say precision, it's not desirable. Yes, because we would like to drink good wine all the time. It's just that it's not cost-effective compared to a certain heroin.
Yes, it doesn't fit into my budget constraints. So, I have to adapt. And as a wine enthusiast, I like diversity. So, it allows me to discover a lot of knowledge. But yes, indeed, it's a constraint. If I didn't have budget constraints, I would ask myself these questions less. But if you're here, it's because you may have budget constraints.
So, here's what I did: I created corridors in which I will represent, rather than having all my wines at the same level, I will represent my cellar with different types of consumption.
Daily, occasional, special occasions. However, that's not enough yet.
Because in the end, the occasions are not the same. Here, I can see, it's exactly the same lines, whereas my daily wine, I don't consume the same number of bottles, for example, as occasional wine or for special occasions.
So, I need to adjust this parameter. I also need to take into account the fact that wines with high potential, let's say, at purchase, will take much longer to realize that potential. Typically, let's take a Château Carbonnieux, it will take 20 to 25 years to realize its potential. If I take a Moulin à Vin, it's more like 10-15 years. So, I take these parameters into account. Not all bottles are the same. And if I take a wine from my region, the East, Arbois, a château, a yellow wine, sorry, excuse me, well, it's a wine that can age 100 years. So, I need to take these specificities into account. So, what do I do?
In fact, I will parameterize my table to take into account... Actually, I will set up limits. That is, I will reserve zones. in which my wine will progress. So here, I have upper limits, meaning I can't have more than 9 bottles in this box. Here, I can't have more than 12. So, these upper limits allow me to say that as long as I haven't consumed the wine that's there, there's no point in buying more. Actually, these are storage spaces.
So, it's by corridor. Here, I have 12 storage spaces. Here, I will only have 9. Here, only 3. Indeed, I have fewer special occasions than... There.
So, that's the first thing. By setting upper limits, in fact, I will create a flow. So, I need to... Well, I must. I consume...
In fact, I don't need to add wine to my cellar in terms of purchases as long as I haven't consumed those available on the right side. By the way, a small remark in passing, these are the wines that have the most value. They have already spent time in the system, they have already acquired maturity. So, these are the wines that have value. So, indeed, it's better that I consume those. So, that will make them move forward. Another limit will be the lower limit. Here, it's not very visible, I'm sorry, I'll make it darker next time. Here, I have three empty storage spaces that represent a lower limit of 3. What does that mean? Here, remember, there are 700 km between the two. So, it means that if I don't supply this part, by a trip, simply, well, I will run out of stock at some point. So, by this representation of the lower limit here, I force myself to think that in this category, I need to transfer wine from my cellar 1 to cellar 2. Ok? This is going to be the lower limit.
Here, you can't see very well, I'm sorry, I'll make it darker next time. Here, I have three empty slots, which represent a lower limit of 3. What does that mean? Here, remember, there are 700 km between the two.
So that means that if I don't supply, this part, with a trip, quite simply, well, I will end up running out of stock at some point. So, with this representation of the lower limit here, I force myself to think that in this category, I need to transfer wine from my cellar 1 to cellar 2.
Okay? So the upper limits and the lower limits. The upper limit will allow us to set up the flow. And the lower limit will allow us to better manage this flow.
Another aside, in fact, what I have set up is visual management. I have represented my cellar visually to better understand how it works and to improve its management. So I have gained visibility and transparency. This also allows me to identify certain patterns.
I will explain that right after. And it also allows me to make waste visible. That is to say, on the previous slide, if I don't do... I bought wines here as long as I have some here. I need to be careful; this will allow me to say that, in fact, the wines that are here need to be monitored and consumed as soon as possible because I risk losing their potential. I take the liberty of quoting Michel Greff from the Saffich factory.
Visual management allows us to make visible things that are not. And what we try to make visible as much as possible is what makes sense, what will allow us to organize ourselves better. So it's one aspect... that is very important.
Regarding the pattern I was just talking about, here I tried to represent three 'patterns' to follow. Typically, I also have wines that are ready to drink, even ready to lose their quality. Here, I have wines in their primary stage, but between the two, I have nothing at all. What's good about wine, always considering the budget constraint, is that we can have wines arrive directly in these slots. No need to panic, it can be fixed. Watch the budget. Here, ultimately, I have a line that is rather... Which is rather correct; ultimately, it's my goal to reach. It's to have a well-filled and well-distributed line. And here, I will need to have some big occasions soon because I risk losing all the potential I have invested since the wine has gone through all the slots. It took a lot of time in this line. And so, it's important to be careful, to visualize, in fact,
these things.
I suggest a small alternative. At the beginning, we took the bottle. We will follow the bottle. Here, we say to ourselves, we will try to improve a little. Well, improve. Would I have something to gain if, instead of following this bottle, I followed the... In fact, I bought a case of 6 bottles. What happens? Ultimately... It won't change much in my maturation stages, etc. However, I will be able to do intermediate tastings to gain knowledge. Because indeed, there are guides that tell you that these wines are to be drunk, etc. But sometimes, they tell you a little that this wine can be consumed now or can be kept. Ultimately, I will do tastings to know—I invested in 6 bottles—I will taste one at some point, and then I will adjust accordingly. So, this allows me, instead of following a single bottle, to follow a batch of bottles.
There you go. If I change the element I am tracking in my system, well, I will change the information I can get from it. In any case, it's up to me to choose at what level I need to track my elements.
In fact, what I have tried to implement through this analysis is that I want to improve the performance of my cellar, but in a collective way. Indeed, not all bottles are drunk at their maximum potential, etc. But I give myself the means to consume as many bottles as possible at the best time.
Next, another lesson we can learn from this is that we see that wine has a rather slow aging process; it takes its time, and in the same way, I won't be able to modify my system, my limits, or my constraints very quickly, because in any case, it won't be useful. I won't take the time to learn, because if I introduce limits, it introduces constraints, it introduces blockages, it can introduce a whole bunch of things that will allow us to learn.
So, be careful that the pace of improving a system also depends on its rhythm, ultimately. We cannot improve a system faster than its rhythm.
So here, I have gone through all the elements a bit quickly. I will try to go back a little on some elements to highlight what we have seen.
In the end, we started from a simple representation to a more advanced one. But the more advanced my representation is, the more I will think about my system, and the less I will be able to share it because it is adapted to my limits, it is adapted to my context. It's my system. No, it's not my system, but it's my representation of my cellar. Understood? However, what is shareable? It's the method, the approach. It remains valid. It's up to you to think about your contexts, your problems, your constraints. And then, you can do the same approach. You won't end up with the same representation because you may not ask the same questions, you may not have the same goals, but the approach will remain valid in your context. A few conditions, I take the liberty of recalling some elements. The work is divisible by an increment and adds value.
Here, it's the potential of the wine. A bottle. And then, the activities related to an increment can follow one another. So we see that the wine follows maturation phases.
Well, the steps, we defined the framework, we chose the work element, we visualized the process, and we made rules and limits explicit.
Doesn't that remind you of anything?
Service classes, what did we do?
It's a big word, service classes. In fact, I will represent based on my types of occasions. I could have taken other things. I will follow my Bordeaux, I will follow based on the appellations, based on the color of the wine, the robe. No matter, the service class is there to identify a certain type of element and to differentiate how we treat them in our process. So that is a notion that is quite important and will allow you to refine your first implementation of the system.
Another little aside.
Improving productivity. How will I go about improving the time that passes... Well, how do I make the potential of my wine realize faster? Knowing that time is incompressible. In the end, we don't succeed. Well, there is indeed a...
A compromise we can make is that wine ages better in a larger container. Or it ages faster in a smaller bottle. So, we'll have to compromise between a wine that ages better or a wine that ages faster. But in the end, that's not where it's won... Where the overall performance of the cellar is won. Here, we're talking about the performance of a single bottle. What will interest us is that, overall, our cellar fulfills its objective, which is to provide the best wine at the best time, collectively.
There, I was a bit too quick.
So, to finish, a final word. After all, the oldest bottle I have in my cellar dates back to 1976. It was given to me by my grandfather some time ago. It's an Arbois wine, it's absolutely undrinkable. I keep it because it holds memories, etc. But in the end, it's a failure because its potential has evaporated. It's a bottle that was lost or that we didn't know how to handle, etc. It didn't leave the system at the right time.
So, one of the lessons we can take from all this is that if you want the elements in your system to come out at the right time, Give yourself the means to see and track them throughout their stages.