Feature Reference
Everything in Barrel Scout, by category.
Dozens of capabilities, each purpose-built for distilleries and spirits warehouses — nothing borrowed from a generic inventory tool.
Contents
What's on this page.
Each section below covers one category in detail. Jump to whichever matters most — or just read top to bottom.
- 1 Barrel Tracking Identity, condition, history, locate
- 2 Warehouse & Storage Hierarchy, pallets, mapping, multi-site
- 3 Shipping & Receiving Inbound, outbound, transfers, validation
- 4 Ownership & Transfers Records, custody, multi-customer, isolation
- 5 Sampling Requests, floor collection, lab proofing
- 6 Dumping & Tanks Dump orders, tank fills, gauging, recovery
- 7 Reports & Export Summaries, customer rollups, Excel, retention
- 8 Platform & Integration Cloud, mobile, API, scale
Tracking
Every barrel, individually known.
Each barrel is serialized via a unique RFID tag. A complete profile of the contents, the cooperage, the condition, the entire movement history, and much more attaches to this ID.
- RFID tracking ID
- Every barrel identified by unique RFID tag number for instant, accurate lookup.
- Complete barrel profile
- Manufacturing date, cooperage, entry proof, proof gallons, mash bill, char level, barrel toasting, TTB class/type of contents, and condition all in one place.
- Condition monitoring
- Track barrel state across Filled, Empty, Leaking, and Damaged statuses with timestamped history.
- Barrel Locate Mode
- RFID locator with audio and visual guidance finds any barrel in your warehouse from up to 20 feet away.
- Full barrel history
- Every movement, ownership change, sample draw, and status update recorded and searchable from day one.
- Audit trail
- See every field change, who changed it, and when.
Warehouse
Digital twins of your physical warehouses.
Buildings, rows, stacks, and levels — modeled the way your warehouses are actually organized. Every scan updates the model in real time, so the system always knows where every barrel sits.
- Storage hierarchy
- Organize your warehouse into Buildings, Rows, and Locations (stack and level) for granular placement tracking across palletized or traditional rickhouses.
- Pallet management
- 4 or 6-barrel pallets, unique downstack tracking, and custom forklift hardware ensure no pallet left behind.
- Location tracking
- Know the exact row and level of every barrel, updated in real time with each pallet movement.
- Visual warehouse mapping
- Spatial views of your warehouse layout for fast navigation and inventory spotting.
- Multi-building support
- Manage multiple warehouses and rickhouses under a single account with no switching required.
- Automated forklift tracking
- Forklift-mounted RFID readers update barrel locations automatically as inventory moves.
Logistics
Seamless paperwork at the dock door.
Scan a pallet — the system records every barrel, validates the lot, and tracks the shipment through pending, in-process, and shipped states. Inter-warehouse transfers happen as one linked event, not two manual ones.
- Inbound deliveries with status tracking
- Manage inbound shipments from pending through complete with per-barrel scan confirmation in the real world.
- Outbound shipments with three-stage status
- Track outbound loads through Pending, In Process, and Shipped stages.
- Scan barrels in/out with RFID or barcode
- Use mobile apps, handheld readers, or forklift-mounted readers to process entire pallets in seconds.
- Lot validation preventing errors
- Real-time scan validation ensures only the correct barrels are allowed onto each shipment or delivery.
- Inter-warehouse transfers with linked flow
- A single transfer creates a linked outbound shipment and inbound delivery across both warehouse accounts.
- Automatic pallet deactivation
- Pallets are deactivated automatically when all barrels are removed, keeping inventory clean.
Ownership
Chain of custody, on every barrel.
Every ownership change is recorded with date, parties, and full barrel manifest. NDPs and contract distillers can manage multiple owners under one account, with strict data isolation between them.
- Ownership transfer records with history
- Every transfer documented with date, parties, and barrel manifest — full chain of custody on every barrel.
- Automatic transfer on delivery
- Ownership updates automatically when a delivery is confirmed, eliminating manual reassignment.
- Transfer lots for organized records
- Group barrels into transfer lots for clean, auditable records that match your paperwork.
- Multi-customer management
- Manage inventory for multiple barrel owners within a single warehouse account.
- Customer reassignment
- Reassign barrels between customers quickly, in place, with a full record of the change.
Sampling
From request to proof, on one record.
Request samples against a lot, collect them on the floor, and proof them in the lab. The barrel that was actually sampled is recorded, even when it is not the one that was asked for.
- Sample requests against lots
- Request samples at lot level, optionally naming a specific barrel, with priority and a requested ship date.
- Substitution handling on the floor
- When the barrel scanned is not the one requested, the system matches by exact barrel, then same lot, then substitute, and records which barrel was actually taken.
- Lab proofing
- Enter volume and proof against each collected sample. The sample carries its own record, separate from the barrel it came from.
- Uncollect and correct
- Request details lock once a sample is collected. Uncollect to change them, and the correction is recorded rather than overwritten.
- Advisory holds
- Put a hold on a whole order or a single item, with the reason, the person, and the time stamped by the system rather than typed in.
- Cancel without deleting
- Cancelling is how a request is abandoned. Nothing leaves the record.
Dumping
The last movement, measured and recorded.
Pick the barrels, open a tank fill, dump against it, then close and gauge. The gauged reading is the measurement of record, and every step back out of it carries a reason.
- Dump orders end to end
- Pick the barrels, open a tank fill, dump against it, then close the fill and gauge it.
- Gauged readings are authoritative
- Figures projected before gauging are labelled as estimates. The gauge is the measurement of record.
- Undo a dump
- A barrel recorded by mistake goes back to requested, and the correction stays on the record.
- Reopen a fill, with a reason
- Reopening requires a written reason and discards the now-invalid gauge. It refuses outright if another fill has since claimed the tank.
- One open fill per tank
- Enforced in the database, not just on the screen.
- Mobile apps prevent accidents
- Dumping requires scanning each barrel and warns against issues: barrels already dumped, barrels not listed on this order, or unknown barrels. A barrel can be dumped off-order, but requires a note.
Reporting
Audit-ready before the auditor calls.
Pre-built reports for the questions you actually get asked: TTB summaries, customer inventory, owner rollups. One-click Excel export. Full retention. No data locked in.
- Shipping & receiving summary
- At-a-glance totals of all inbound and outbound activity across any date range.
- Customer inventory report
- Per-customer barrel counts, locations, and statuses exportable on demand.
- Owner summary
- Roll up all barrel data by owner for billing, compliance, or customer reporting.
- Excel export
- Export any view or report to Excel with one click — no data locked in the system.
- Custom filtering
- Filter by age, contents, location, owner, condition, lot, and more across all reports and inventory views.
- Unlimited data retention
- All historical barrel records and audit trails retained indefinitely — no data aging out.
Platform
Fits the way you already work.
Cloud-hosted, mobile-native, with import-export and an API for the systems you already use. Designed to grow from 100 barrels to 500,000+ without re-architecture.
- Cloud-hosted, no install
- Fully managed cloud infrastructure — just log in. No servers, no IT department required.
- iOS and Android apps
- Native mobile apps for warehouse scanning and on-floor operations on any modern device.
- Plays nice with others
- Custom integrations with legacy systems possible.
- API access
- RESTful JSON API for integrating Barrel Scout data with your ERP, TMS, or custom tools.
- Excel/CSV data import
- Seed your barrel database from existing spreadsheets — no manual re-entry.
- Scales from 10 to 500,000+ barrels
- Architecture designed to grow with you, with no-downtime implementation so operations never stop.
Book a demo
See what Barrel Scout can do for your inventory.
Give us thirty minutes and we will give you a peek into how RFID tracking will improve your barrel operations.