Pre-Onboarding Guide & Checklist!

Your onboarding date is set and we are excited to get you started! Before we dive in together, here are some things you can do in advance to prepare your winery, your data and your team for the transition. For teams big and small, this guide walks through the areas that make the biggest difference in getting you set up efficiently:

• Getting your inventory in order

• Setting up your technology

• Aligning your team internally

• What happens at your start date

Getting your Inventory in Order

Step 1: Do a physical inventory

A physical count before adding your inventory to InnoVint (or starting your data migration) gives you a clean baseline. This is a chance to locate and consolidate any records you might need, and also a great time to tackle any housekeeping you’ve been putting off: re-numbering barrels, updating lot names, or reconciling what’s actually in the cellar versus what’s on paper.

Step 2: Gather data for each inventory type

We have worksheets and templates to help you structure the information you'll bring into InnoVint. You do not need to collect all of the below; whatever you can organize in advance will help.

Primary inventory

Prioritize collating and organizing your "static" data first: focus on what vineyards you use, vessels you have, gather any existing A.P. bond information, or clean up your list of customer crush owners.  

Don’t worry about wine lot gallons or blend percentages that may change before your start date.

Check out our migration worksheets and templates to understand what data you need in order to create vineyards, vessels and lots in InnoVint:

→ See InnoVint’s Migration Template + Required vs Optional Data Points

Vessel codes & barcodes

• Confirm every vessel (tank, barrel, keg, carboy, egg, amphora) has a code or ID. If not, decide on your numbering format (e.g. YY-0001). This is a good internal conversation to have before you start.
• Check whether vessels already have barcodes. If those numbers match what you want in InnoVint, you may be able to use them as-is.
• If starting fresh, InnoVint will be able to print vessel QR code stickers directly, using our recommended labels.

Secondary inventory

Get a head start on your Dry Goods! Quantities may change, but you can still collect product and batch information ahead of time. You can refer to these documents for information that will be required for input into InnoVint:

• Dry goods: Additives - direct input requirements (you'll want to pay special attention to units)
  

• Dry goods: Packaging - import template and specifications

Setting up your technology

It might sound scary, but we really just want you to think about what device or tools you might use with InnoVint. Consider:

Labels & printing

InnoVint supports sheet labels and roll labels for QR codes, lot labels, and ETS sample stickers.

If you prefer roll labels and don’t have a roll printer, we recommend one that prints from PDF: Dymo and Zebra are popular choices. See our supported label sizes in the support center.

Devices

Not at your desk all the time?  You can use phones or tablets to take InnoVint on the go. For larger wineries, a common practice is a couple of tablets at different stations throughout the lab/cellar. Just you? You can use InnoApp from any mobile phone. Check our tech specs to make sure devices meet requirements, they must also be wi-fi enabled, and a camera is required for QR and barcode scanning.

Personal vs. shared devices

Decide whether any staff will use personal phones or winery-provided devices. If providing devices, ensure they meet specs below.

Cases & protection

The cellar is a tough environment. Plan for rugged, waterproof cases on any devices that will be used on the floor.

Aligning your team internally

Identify your points of contact

• Who is the primary contact for your InnoVint onboarding or data migration project? This should be someone with authority to make decisions about your data or who can coordinate with the appropriate parties.

• • Map out any required decision-making: who needs to weigh in on data, workflows, naming conventions, and system access
    
    
• Decide on admin vs. standard user roles: who will be system administrators in InnoVint, and who will have more limited access? See our member permission options.

Plan the change communication

A software transition is most successful when cellar staff feel informed, not surprised. Consider giving your team a heads-up about the upcoming change: what’s coming, why you chose InnoVint, and how it will affect their day-to-day. Early buy-in from winemakers and cellar staff goes a long way. If you’d like help putting together a message, just let us know!

Cutover date

Consider when you would like InnoVint’s history to begin.  It might align with your most recent TTB reporting period, or after that big round of bottling coming up. Either way, you'll want to input data that is accurate as of your chosen date. We recommend a date within the past 2-4 weeks to reduce time needed to catch up activity since that date.

How long to retain access to your old system

This depends upon the complexity of your winery and various department needs. Common practice is between 1– 6 months, often timed in conjunction with the end of a fiscal period, and allowing for one full month of overlap from your cutover date to ensure compliance records align to expectation.

Export your historical records before leaving an old software

Before forfeiting access to your current platform, InnoVint strongly recommends you export all historical records necessary to meet legal requirements for you across facilities. These records are commonly saved outside of InnoVint.

What happens at your start date

Once your onboarding begins, your InnoVint customer success team will guide you through system configuration, and initial setup. Everything you do now means less groundwork to cover later and more time to focus on training to meet your goals.