Here are a few basic concepts used in BrooDoo Kegs. Understanding these will help you make the most of the app.


Barcodes

BrooDoo Kegs uses a barcode system to uniquely identify kegs. If you are a keg owner, you can request barcodes and we will supply you a set of heavy-duty unique barcode stickers to apply to your kegs.

The stickers have been tested to handle hot and cold temperatures, acid and caustic exposure, and are difficult to remove.

Each sticker has a unique barcode that is reliably scanned by the app, and a human-readable code should you want to type the code into the app or desktop site.


Roles

BrooDoo Kegs recognizes several different roles within the brewing and hospitality industries and aims to supplies benefits to each of them.

The following roles exist:

  • Owner: an organisation that physically owns a keg
  • Lessee: an organisation that leases a keg from a lessor
  • Lessor: an organisation that leases a keg to a lessee. Generally these leases will be medium-to-long term
  • Short Term Lessor: an organisation that leases a keg to a lessee. The term of the lease is short, e.g. one-way kegs
  • Brewer: an organisation that fills kegs with beer (or cider etc.)
  • Brand: an organisation that may or may not be a physical brewery but owns the IP of the beer in a keg (e.g. contract brewer)
  • Distributor: an organisation that buys and sells and stores beer
  • Retailer: an organisation that buys beer in kegs to sell to consumers
  • Carrier: an organisation that transports kegs
Of course a particular organisation may have several roles depending on their situation.
Depending on the role(s) of a user, different options will be available within the apps, specific to their situation.


Events

BrooDoo Kegs is based around the concept of an event. Whenever a user scans a barcode and submits, an event is created. BrooDoo keeps the entire history of events for each of the kegs so it is possible to trace back through a keg's history.


Depending on the type of event (e.g. Check Out, Fill, On Tap), different information is required from the user, specific to the event type.


Additionally not all event types are available depending on the user's role and the relationship of the get to them. For example only an keg's owner can change the lessee, and only a brewer can fill a keg, but it needn't be owned by them etc.


Events are not dependent upon other events happening. If, say, a keg was not checked out of one location, the next location can still scan it on tap for example.


Privacy

A user can only see the information they are permitted to see. This will depend upon what roles they have and the relationship they have with the keg.

Permissions apply not only to events, but also to fields within the events.

For example, a keg's owner can see most events, generally relating to its location, but if the owner is leasing the keg out, they cannot see events such as when it is filled (nor can they see what it was filled with) and when it was emptied. More importantly if the keg has been filled by a brewer, only users of the brand of that beer can see when it was on tap, emptied, etc.


Users, Organisations, and Locations

Users

Anyone using BrooDoo Kegs must have an account set up in BrooDoo Kegs. This account is know as a User. A user belongs to an organisation which dictates what events they can see. A user can only belong to one organisation. If a person has two jobs, each at a different organisation (e.g. works at a brewery and works part time at a pub) they will have to sign up to two accounts and log in to the relevant one to the job.


Organisations

Organisations represent a business entity, be it a brewery, bar, contract brewer, or others. Many of the privacy permissions depend upon the organisation. This prevents competitors viewing potentially business-sensitive information.


It is important to remember that each physical organisation must have one and only one organisation set up in BrooDoo Kegs. As an example say Brewer A and Brewer B each sent a keg to Pub A, but each brewery had the pub set up individually on BrooDoo Kegs (e.g. one called it "Example Pub", the other "Example Bar"). The users at the pub will only be associated with the correct organisation, so won't see the events with the duplicate organisation.


Locations

A location represents the physical premises of an organisation. Most organisations will probably have only one location, but some will have multiple locations. Therefore a location exists as a related, but separate entity from its "parent" organisation. Remember this when setting up a new organisation. It won't show up as an option in any location fields until a location is created for that organisation. An organisation without a location only makes sense where that organisation never receives any kegs, e.g. a contract brewer who outsources all distribution.


Sometimes when scanning a keg and checking it out, a user might find a location does not exist in BrooDoo Kegs. Most user roles have the ability to add the location (and organisation should that not exist). On the app you can add a location (and organisation if required) on the scan page during a scan, or under the More tab on the web and app.