How does Shipsy track individual RPM assets like kegs and pallets?

Assets carry identifiers (barcode, RFID, or serial numbers depending on deployment) that are scanned at handover. Shipsy maintains per-asset position and per-outlet balance, surfacing accumulation and loss patterns automatically.

Can consolidated loop planning handle mixed categories — beverage plus non-beverage?

Yes. The planning engine handles mixed-category loops with constraints per category. Temperature-controlled cases are planned alongside ambient with vehicle-capability awareness.

What happens when HoReCa outlets dispute empty counts?

Drop-level ePOD captures signed counts at pickup. Disputes are resolvable against photographic and signature evidence. Nexa handles the deposit adjustment workflow once resolved.

Does this work for breweries that operate multi-country networks?

Yes. The RPM tracking is deployable across borders and currencies. Multi-country brewery operators use it to close loops between production countries and consumption markets.

Is this only for major beverage operators?

No. Craft breweries and regional bottlers get proportional benefit because RPM loss rates often hit them harder as a percentage of revenue. The platform scales down to smaller operators. --- **Download the full beverage logistics playbook (PDF)** or [subscribe to The Shipsy Brief](/subscribe) for monthly FMCG benchmarks.

Beverage logistics and returnable packaging: kegs, crates, and RPM loops that actually close

Beverage distribution is the hardest execution model in FMCG. Every load carries forward inventory and return inventory simultaneously. Every drop is both a delivery and a reverse pickup. Shipsy runs the full RPM loop — kegs, crates, pallets, dollies — across breweries, depots, and HoReCa outlets, with Astra driving the consolidated loops and Nexa reconciling RPM balances at the outlet level. That is what closes the loop on asset loss.

The finding

Returnable packaging is where beverage companies lose the most money they don’t see on the P&L. Kegs disappear. Crates pile up at bars. Pallets circulate without accountability. The sector norm is to treat RPM loss as a budget line rather than as a fixable operational problem. Shipsy aggregate data across beverage operators running RPM tracking shows material asset loss reduction when empties are tracked at the outlet level, when the delivery and pickup flows are planned as one consolidated loop, and when reconciliation happens at drop granularity rather than at monthly aggregate. The precedent from a global alco-bev leader operating across 70+ countries is instructive — $25M+ in carrier and vendor disputes resolved autonomously through a similar operating discipline — see a detailed case study.

Why it’s happening

Three mechanics compound.

1. RPM tracking at the asset level, not the aggregate level. Kegs, crates, and dollies carry identifiers. Shipsy tracks the outbound count, the at-outlet balance, and the return count per asset type per outlet. When a specific outlet is sitting on excess empties, it shows up in days, not quarters.

2. Consolidated delivery and pickup loops. The beverage route is a two-sided loop: deliver full, pick up empty. Astra plans the route against both the outbound allocation and the expected empties pickup, so the same truck does both in one pass instead of two. Fleet utilization lifts.

3. Outlet-level RPM reconciliation. Settlement for RPM deposits works only if the per-outlet balance is correct. Shipsy runs drop-level reconciliation via ePOD quantity capture, with deposit adjustment flows routed through Nexa. HoReCa accounts in particular see the reconciliation discipline translate directly into working capital.

Net: the loop closes. Empties come home. Working capital tied up in missing RPM starts coming back.

What it means for beverage operators

Operators split by whether they treat RPM as an accounting category or an operational flow.

Accounting-RPM operators book a write-down annually and move on. The cost of replacement kegs and crates is treated as a cost of doing business. This is a real number at scale.

Operational-RPM operators track the empties the same way they track the full product. Loss rates are measured per outlet per week. The commercial conversation with HoReCa partners changes because the data is live.

Beverage capability	Traditional approach	AI-native approach (Shipsy)
RPM tracking	Aggregate counts, monthly	Asset-level, per outlet, per drop
Route planning	Delivery route; pickup as afterthought	Consolidated loop, one route, both flows
Fleet utilization	Loaded one way, empty the other	Loaded both ways, higher utilization
HoReCa reconciliation	Monthly, dispute-heavy	Drop-level via ePOD, near-live
Empties collection	Reactive, on request	Scheduled in the route plan
Deposit management	Manual, error-prone	Automated via Nexa with outlet visibility
Loss rate visibility	Year-end	Weekly, per-outlet

Three implications.

RPM is an operational flow. Treating it as accounting hides the leverage.
The loop is the unit of planning. Delivery-only planning leaves fleet utilization on the table.
HoReCa reconciliation is where the commercial conversation lives. Without per-outlet data, you are negotiating on aggregates they can dispute.

What to do about it

Measure RPM loss per outlet per week rather than per region per month. The granularity change alone surfaces actionable information that aggregate numbers mask. Pilot consolidated delivery-plus-pickup loop planning in one depot and measure fleet utilization change alongside loss rate. And treat HoReCa reconciliation as a commercial product — partners who see clean data appreciate the transparency; partners who don’t are often the ones with the disputed numbers.

For how primary distribution feeds the beverage model, read our primary distribution guide. Explore Shipsy for FMCG operators and the Transportation Management System.