This page last updated:
June 7, 2006
These are real questions asked by VWS users, If you have a problem first read the program documentation, then review this page. If you can't
find the answer please e-mail me at alondon
@ alondon.com
. I try to answer all my e-mail, but registered users receive priority.
Q. What does the program cost? Do I have to be a
Registered User to use the program?
A. I sell professional services and support, not the program
itself. The minimum implementation services supplied with the program is 6
hours at a cost of $1000. If you have more than 100 products, the minimum
is 16 hours of support at a cost of $2,500. A product is a single wine
product for single vintage year (e.g. Cold Mountain Estate Cap 2004).
Depending on the size of your winery operation, it can take 40 hours or more and
$5,000 to $10,000 in services to actually implement the VIRTUAL Winery and
create strategic plan with best, worse and expected case scenarios. If you
maintain good historical cost records and are an Excel "power user", it could
cost somewhat less. If you like, we will visit your winery and submit a
detail
proposal so there will be no surprises. If you are not local (e.g.
not Napa /
Sonoma) we can usually work something out over the phone.
You don't have to become a registered user to use the program. But your
products will be limited and all your reports will be headed "UNREGISTERED
USER". You can register at any time. Just contact me via email,
then enter the code number I send you in the
company set-up form. There is no charge to register the program.
Q. I am just starting a winery; will the VIRTUAL Winery System
properly model a start-up situation?
A. YES and MAYBE. The VWSystem3 forecasts for a 10 year
period. But, keep in mind that if you are just planting a vineyard you are not going to have any
serious wine production for 3 to 4 years and no case sales for 5 to 7 years.
We recommend that a separate forecast be prepared
for the start-up (or incubation) period, then integrated into the
VWS3 system in year 4 or 5.
Q: This is impossible, how do I know what wine I want to make or
what my future production will be? I usually wait until after harvest and
assess the quality of the crush before I make
these decisions.
A: Good question! But, unless you have unlimited
resources, you had better give it your best guess. Generally, the successful
manager just makes better guesses.
Although you may quickly decide to sell grapes or purchase finished bulk and produce a few hundred cases of a premium wine
product, you can't make a decision to significantly increase production
facilities, plant new vineyards, or commit to a whole new product line based solely
on the availability and quality of this years harvest. These decisions have very long term consequences
and will require significant resources.
Implementation of a Vintage Plan requires you to commit to a production
schedule. You can always change your assumptions in a few minutes if, as
often the case, the
circumstances change.
Remember that not planning is planning to fail.
Q: I downloaded the VWS and I am getting a lot of VBA error
messages? Nothing seems to work!
A: This is rare. Email me and tell me what the message says.
This problem is usually fixed by clicking on SYSTEMS|Reset from the main menu.
Q: I downloaded a newer version of the VWS and it over wrote all
my hard work? How can I make sure this doesn't happen again?
A: Use the scenario manager to save your versions
often. Then you can download a new version of the VWS system, restore your
scenario, and recreate and consolidate your costing files. This will usually take
less than 10 minutes.
Q: My winery operation is in Sonoma; but I also have a New
Zealand operation, do you have a metric
version?
A: YES! All you have to do is check the "Metric"
button on the system set-up screen and the entire system is converted to metric
measurements, including the sample data. Also, the measurement convention
is saved with each version so you can save a version in metric, then restore
your Sonoma winery version and work with it in US measurement.
Q: I tried to email a version to my boss and nothing
happens? I just got a message saying "Outlook not installed".
I don't use MSOutlook as my e-mail program.
A: You must have MSOutlook 2000 or 2003 installed on your
computer to email a version. Outlook does not have to be your default e-mail
program.
Q: What about opening Inventory - I may sell off my bulk wines if
I get the right price, or place them in production if demand for that product is
high enough.
A: Make two versions of your Vintage Plan and compare
them. Then take the most profitable approach. That is what the VWS
does best! Note - that the program only processes "Case Equivalents"
so divide your bulk gallons by 2.377 to enter the equivalent cases sold and
multiply the gallon sales price by 2.377 to get the case equivalent sales price.
Q: I have a MAC, can I run the VIRTUAL Winery?
A: Unfortunately, VWS is not MAC compatible. I suggest you
consider going to DELL and purchasing a
PC (usually less than $600) just to run the VWS.
Of course MSOffice will cost you another $225. Also, some of the newer MACs
(500 MHz power PC processors) are so fast they can run the MS XP Operating
System using an emulation program. Sorry, these are the only solutions
for now, unless I get a whole lot more requests for a MAC version.
