Manufacturing has changed monumentally with the introduction of new technologies and automated capabilities. Workers are now empowered and assisted by machines and digital automation of commercial organizations is something the insurance industry has had to keep a close eye on. Technology brings new risks and exposures to the workplace, and poses underwriting and risk management challenges for insurance professionals.
Global insurer Chubb has been with the Trinchero Family Estates – America’s fourth largest family-run independent winery – for more than 30 years. The insurer’s risk engineering team has assisted Trinchero on its gradual transition from traditional winery to state-of-the-art automated operation.
“Chubb’s relationship with Trinchero is truly unique. It’s been really positive and collaborative since the start of the partnership. As Trinchero have developed and expanded their operations, the relationship with Chubb has grown with it,” said Thomas Neale, a, risk specialist at Chubb Risk Engineering Services, who has been working on the Trinchero account since 1994.
“Over the years, there have been several key aspects to risk management at Trinchero. First and foremost, there are the standard property fire insurance type issues. I’ve been involved with helping Trinchero evaluate their fire protection systems when it comes to the design of fire sprinklers, as well as the testing and maintenance routines for fire pumps and private water supplies.”
Risks at wineries extend far beyond fire. Over the years, Trinchero has expanded its business via expansions and acquisitions, and made considerable investments into new product lines and top-notch technologies.
They’ve grown from using typical warehouses with forklifts to a 90-foot state-of-the-art automated distribution facility with automated inventory systems. As Trinchero continues to grow in height, scale and automation, “new exposures come into place, which present challenges from a risk management perspective,” Neale commented.
“From a property perspective, automation creates a few new aspects of risk. They started storing product 90-feet high in a large grid system with pallet loads of wine, instead of 20-feet high, creating very different fire concerns,” he told Insurance Business. “As the popularity of 187ml bottles increases, they’re typically plastic, which presents a different fire hazard than glass bottles. They also introduced spirits, which are more flammable than wine, so we made frequent evaluations as they changed their packaging and product lines to make sure they still had appropriate protection.
“There are other exposures that come with automation, such as cyber. As manufacturing systems become more automated and connected to the Internet, it presents opportunities for bad actors to potentially expose systems, equipment, or data to the world. Typically, wineries start with a basic website, advertising their product and their tasting room – but now the internet can control much of a winery’s operations, from the temperature of wine that’s aging to equipment and managing inventory systems.”
It’s not just wineries making these sorts of investments into new technology. The whole supply chain is evolving into an automated entity and businesses across all industry sectors - from construction, to healthcare, to production etc. – are changing.
“Chubb risk specialists support our clients as they make these changes to their businesses,” Neale added. “We’ve always had a very positive and collaborative relationship with Trinchero. It’s not about me trying to be the hero and coming in with great ideas and solutions. Rather, it’s been about working with the family and their contractors to make sure that as they acquire new properties and new wineries, or as they design and build their own, that they’re factoring in all aspects of risk management as they develop their business.”
