Securing the Future of a Global Distiller.

Long-Term Study Yields Timely Expansion for Bourbon Producer

 

InLine completed a 10-year study to forecast demand versus production capabilities for a major bourbon producer to optimally time the expansion of its operations. The engineering study resulted in detailed designs for facility expansion as well as the construction of a new quality control lab. Project planning involved putting new production in place a year before the anticipated date when demand would exceed production and included the following elements:

 

• Production volume analysis
• Barrel fill and dump area
• Processing area
• Bottling line
• Cold storage
• Material handling
• Infrastructure
• Preliminary CAD layouts
• Food safety (SQF) detailed review on new designs
• People flow study, including production and tour visitors
• Facility sequencing and scale of magnitude cost estimates
• Overall scope of work scale of magnitude estimate for capital plan
•  Level 1 schedule, including major milestones

 

The study helped the customer understand the operation’s pinch points at all stages of production and storage. In addition to providing recommendations to increase bourbon production, InLine’s study also specified how much additional processing equipment, warehouse capacity, and barrel handling equipment would be needed during and after the barrel aging process.

 

To keep the customer’s facility improvements on track as it neared its goal date, InLine’s recommendations included planning for delays in procuring materials such as specialized bottling equipment from overseas.

 

Further findings from the study revealed that the existing laboratory, located on the first floor of the distillery’s original farmhouse, was too small and outdated to provide sufficient quality control and assurance.

 

The study culminated in 2021 with recommendations for a new bottling line as well as a 3,500 s.f. state-of-the-art building to house a new laboratory, corporate office, and hospitality space. The four-story structure was designed to maintain the rustic aesthetic of the distillery’s campus, while offering features and equipment befitting a modern facility for product research and testing, as well as event hosting.

 

Through this discovery, the customer became better equipped to prepare and budget for future capital projects. The study also enabled the customer to adjust project priorities more easily to reflect changes made to sales forecasts.