As inventory grows and SKU counts increase, many warehouses feel pressure before they run out of space. The real challenge often shows up in the aisles, at the rack, and around staging areas where congestion slows operations. The right narrow aisle solution can increase storage density, enhance maneuverability, and keep goods moving smoothly. Instead of expanding your footprint, many facilities can unlock capacity by rethinking equipment, racking, and traffic flow. At Papé Material Handling, this broader approach connects layout planning, operator-focused technology, lift trucks, racking, automation, and fleet management to keep warehouse operations running efficiently and safely. Safety and Productivity Go Hand in Hand With tighter spaces, control, visibility, training, and maintenance become even more important. In a narrow aisle environment, small inefficiencies can quickly lead to product damage or increase the risk of injury. That’s why productivity and safety need t

The weather is shifting, trip-planning season is underway, and tasting room traffic is about to pick up. This is the good news. The bad news? If you're reading this and thinking "we'll get to our spring marketing when spring gets here," you're behind. The tasting rooms that stay full from April through June aren't the ones with the best wine or the prettiest views. They're the ones that showed up in someone's planning process three weeks before the trip happened. People don't stumble into wine country on a whim and wander from door to door the way they did fifteen years ago. They research. They scroll. They book. And if your winery isn't visible and compelling during that research window, you're invisible when it counts. The hotel industry figured this out years ago. Marriott doesn't wait until summer to market beach properties. They start running "book your getaway" campaigns in late winter, because they know the booking win

Why Wineries Need Influencer Marketing Now Here's a number that should reshape how you think about marketing: 69% of consumers trust influencer recommendations more than information coming directly from a brand That's not a slight edge. That's a fundamental shift in how people decide what to buy. For wineries, this matters more than it does for most industries. Wine is a considered purchase wrapped in uncertainty. Your potential customer is standing in a tasting room or scrolling through an online store, wondering: Will I like this? Is it worth the price? Am I making the right choice? Influencer content answers those questions in ways traditional marketing cannot. When a trusted voice says "I tried this Pinot and it's incredible with grilled salmon," that carries weight. It's a peer recommendation disguised as content. Instagram and TikTok now drive wine discovery among younger audiences, and 87% of Gen Z consumers say they're willing to buy products

Two years ago, I wrote an article on AI in the vineyard for WBM. Feel free to read that article here…if you want. Otherwise, my basic argument was that although AI will eventually play a role in how we farm grapes, it’s a long way off compared to other industries and even other crops. We who grow grapes are the last ones to see such innovation. And since then, AI has grown exponentially. If two years ago you were playing around with Chat GPT to create bizarrely distorted images and learn about tax loopholes, you can now go onto the likes of Claude and have it just create a website for you from a single prompt. Chatbots like this have essentially eliminated the need for entry-level coders. However Claude is a computer, so it makes sense that it’s gotten very good at writing code for other computers. Similarly Chat GPT has digested the entire internet, and curates any answer for you by plucking it from its vast network of information. Sometimes its correct, and other t

eCELLAR's The Pulse: Making the Most of the Tasting Room Visit with Liz Mercer Date: April 22, 2026 Time: 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM PT Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_D2JERMtnSdWzc0gkAaas4Q In the first session of this two part series, Beyond the Tasting Room, we explored how wineries are generating revenue beyond the tasting room and adapting to evolving consumer behavior. In Part Two, Making the Most of the Tasting Room Visit, we bring the focus back to where many of the industry’s most important customer relationships begin. We welcome back Liz Mercer, Partner at WISE, for a practical conversation on how wineries can maximize the impact of every tasting room visit. Drawing on industry data and her experience working closely with wineries, Liz will share what today’s top performing tasting rooms are doing differently. From creating more meaningful guest interactions to improving conversion, retention, and long term customer relationshi

The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium is where the North American wine industry comes together to shape what’s next. As a manufacturer of high-end stainless steel tanks, La Garde Inox showcased its latest innovations in Sacramento. Our presence at major trade shows reflects a simple idea: being close to winemakers is essential to designing better cellars. Unified Wine & Grape Symposium: Where the Industry Looks Ahead Once again, Sacramento hosted one of the most anticipated events in the North American wine industry. The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium 2026 brought together decision-makers, winemakers, and equipment suppliers who are actively shaping the future of wine production. We believe innovation in stainless steel tanks cannot be decided from a catalog alone. High-end equipment needs to be seen, touched, measured, and discussed in person. That’s exactly what we offered in Sacramento. Stainless Steel Expertise, Built for Real Cellars Our stainless steel tan

The Actionable Version (Yes, Another One — But Hear Us Out) It wouldn’t be the end of the year in beverage alcohol without a million prediction articles telling you what might happen next. You’ve probably already read a few that say consumers will drink less, premiumize more, and still somehow want everything new, nostalgic, global, and convenient at the same time. All of that may be true — but this isn’t another “interesting but abstract” trends piece. This one is about what’s actionable right now for: Makers who need flexible, reliable distribution, and Buyers who want to keep their sets fresh, differentiated, and relevant in 2026 Here’s what we see coming — and how to actually do something about it. 1. Volume Isn’t Growing — but Opportunity Is Getting More Targeted Overall volume across many beverage alcohol categories remains flat or slightly down. At the same time, Buyers are still actively looking for n

If peak seasons make or break your operation, you’ve seen how quickly a smooth-running warehouse can get overloaded. Orders pile up, aisles tighten, and your main forklift fleet hits its limit. You need more capacity fast, but you don’t necessarily need more equipment all year long. That’s exactly where a smart short-term rental strategy comes in. With one of the largest material handling rental fleets in the West and dozens of locations spanning across California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Montana, Papé Rents helps businesses add flexible surge capacity without locking up capital in equipment that sits idle once the rush is over. Start with Historical Data Effective seasonal surge planning starts long before the first big order drops. Look at your historical data: Daily order volumes and lines picked Dock-to-stock times Overtime hours Equipment utilization by truck type As you monitor your workflow over time, patterns start to emerge. Maybe ou

The beverage alcohol industry is facing one of its most challenging periods in recent memory. Across the country, wholesalers are rationalizing brands, trimming SKU counts, and shifting portfolio priorities. Large players are consolidating, overhead costs are rising, and many wholesalers simply cannot support the long tail of emerging or niche brands the way they once did. For Makers, this can feel destabilizing. A brand that once had strong distribution support may suddenly find itself deprioritized, shuffled, or even removed entirely from a wholesaler’s portfolio. Placements disappear. Chain authorizations shift. Buyers who love your products can’t reorder because the wholesaler no longer carries you. It’s frustrating—and it’s happening everywhere. But this is exactly the environment LibDib was built for. A Modern Distribution Model for a Changing Industry LibDib is—and always has been—an open, accessible pathway to three-tier distribution fo

Introducing the Verdi Smart Valve Precision irrigation depends on one thing: knowing that every irrigation is delivered exactly as planned. For specialty crop growers managing multiple blocks, varied valve sizes, and rising production costs, achieving that level of control and visibility has often been difficult. Verdi’s new Smart Valve changes that. Each wireless unit enables remote control, real-time irrigation verification, flow-based scheduling, and water-use reporting, all powered by the Verdi Dashboard. It’s available in a full range of sizes from 1 inch to 4 inches. Built for Today’s Challenges Growers across specialty crops, from orchards and vineyards to berries and vegetables, are dealing with rising input costs, labor shortages, and increasing pressure to optimize resources. Many are navigating tighter margins while striving to maintain quality and compliance. The Smart Valve fills a critical gap in the market for growers who need automation that&rsq