The Company was founded and is managed by Bevan Skaalen and Robert Tracy. Combined they have:
- Over 20 years of laboratory experience (microbiology, chemistry, molecular biology, and biochemistry).
- Over 17 years of quality systems (ISO, HACCP, GMP, and sanitation) implementation and optimization experience.
- Process optimization expertise (Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, and Lean Manufacturing).
- Proven project management skills.
Bevan Skaalen
Bevan came to the wine industry with a background in Biopharmaceutical manufacturing and extensive practical application of quality system and continuous improvement implementation techniques. He has worked to implement various quality related initiatives to include Current Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Documentation Practices (cGMP/GDP), Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), change control, document control, validation of sanitization practices, installation and validation of capital equipment, statistical process control (SPC), facilitation of lean manufacturing techniques through Kaizens and six sigma problem solving projects. Bevan has formal training in statistical process control, six sigma methodology and lean manufacturing techniques.
Bevan received his BA from University of Arkansas and his MBA with an emphasis in finance from Pepperdine University and also served in the United States Army as a Captain in the Field Artillery. Bevan currently resides in Windsor, CA with his wife Jennifer, and sons Kieran and Quinn.
Robert Tracy
Robert, co-founder of BevTrac Mobile Quality Systems LLC, has over eleven years of technical services experience and over seven years of management experience in the wine industry. He started his wine industry career with a large winery based in California. Over the course of seven years, he held positions of increasing responsibility including Microbiologist and Quality/Laboratory Manager. During his tenure at the winery, he was project lead on several important initiatives including development and implementation of several winery-wide programs. These programs included microbiology, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), sanitation, and quality metrics. He was also responsible for developing and executing management strategies to reduce/eliminate 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) taint, Brettanomyces yeast, and Lactobacillus bacteria. Several years ago, Robert cofounded BevTrac with Bevan to meet several needs identified in the wine industry: 1) on-site analytical and microbiology testing through a mobile laboratory for wineries lacking a laboratory; 2) quality systems consulting services; and 3) process optimization consulting services. The company has successfully provided quality assessments to over fifty wineries.
During the course of his wine industry career, Robert has developed an extensive array of expertise: project management; laboratory management (personnel and budget); analytical and microbiological testing of wine; auditing and development of winery sanitation programs; microbiological troubleshooting and remediation; development and auditing of quality management systems (HACCP, GMP, ISO 9001); haloanisole assessments and remediation; and training/education of groups on topics related to winery technical services.
