Hello everyone! This will most likely be the last update to our project over the summer!

The colored wrap around labels finally came in this week! Let me tell you–when you are writing down potential label positions everything seems a lot more doable. Mike and I looked up at some of the pipes we were going to place labels on and collectively said “oh boy…” But! With an insanely long ladder and a teammate to hold it down, we made quick work.

The labeling process in Building 88 was a bit different then the Wine Room (if you read the last update post you probably already have a firm idea). We used color to denote what kind of product is in the pipe. Another nice thing about Building 88 was that a lot of the lines already had common names. They weren’t marked in the field that well–but the lines were shown on the operator screens. Thus after the project was done the operators could physically see what was on their screens matched to the field.

Here is an example of one of the labels:

As you can see, the line’s common name was S-GIN (which actually stands for Seagrams Gin). Fun fact, back in the day they used to barrel their gin in old whiskey barrels to give it a specific flavor and color. Anyway, the pipe is marked with the common name, the green tells you what product is in it, and the arrow denotes the direction of flow.

Currently we are waiting for some labels to be shipped, so I have some down time to write this post! I’m back again with another update!

Building 88

After completing the Wine Room portion of the internship, Mike and I were transferred to a new
area called Building 88. This building is the main distribution hub of alcohol in at the back end of the plant. Distilled whiskey comes in from the Wine Room, is held, and then sent over to the J&M (the barreling building) across the street. Gin is also received from the wine room where the proof is slightly cut and sent out to the Mini Tank farm to eventually be shipped off to suppliers. Also, at this section of the plant they manufacture Seagrams 7 Crown which contains a mixture of different blends of aged whiskey, light whiskey, spirits, and blending flavor.

Building 88 is also received the “dumped” aged whiskey back from J&M, where the proof is cut slightly and sent out on trucks. Any rails containing Grade 9 or 11 Spirits are unloaded from the building and either sent directly to the Tank Farm, or the Wine Room. A lot happens at Building 88–a large portion of fresh alcohol is being fed in one direction, and being received from another.

This will be fun

Mike and I’s goal remains the same as it was in the Wine Room: to label all the pipes, write SOP’s and update redlines. So far this building seems much easier as it was all built around the same time in the mid 80’s. Unlike the Wine Room where pipes where slowly added to adjust to new layouts and other ones were simply rust, in Building 88 every pipe has a purpose. Don’t worry though, there are still a far share of congested areas… However, now we are working for the logistics manager in the back end of the plant. After discussing, the labeling here will be quite different. Lines will have names, and the color of the label will match a recently updated flowchart sheet made by one of the Engineers here. Spirits will be blue, whiskey will typically be gray, high wine will be black, and gin will be green.

The Mini Tank Farm

Also, as a part of Building 88 we will be labeling the Mini Tank Farm right next store. This is were the Seagrams 7 Crown is actually made, and where Gin waiting to be shipped is stored. There is also another new element that we have not seen before… Cam locks! These allow the operators to attach a hose from different pipes to jump lines direct the load out of the product. It seems overwhelming at first but once you understand what they typically do it’s not too bad.

Well, that’s all for now!

Hello all! I thought it was time for another update!

So over the past couple of weeks we set out for what we needed to do in the Wine Room. First we walked through the room and learned what the operators do. Then we starting tracing the lines and updating the redlines, followed by labeling the pipes. This strategy worked out pretty well–as we had a strong idea of the process of the area moving forward with the project.

Many things were added to the drawings–including new lines, flow directions, valves, and any missed instrumentation. For each sheet, all individual lines and valves were named as well. In the future this will greatly help out anyone who is writing or following a standard operating procedure to be able to say “For this transaction product will flow from line LBB 3089-25 to LBB 3089-28. Open valve LBB-3089-5.” Each line was named according to the following setup:

Product-Nominal Pipe Size- Sheet Number-Pipe Material- Line Number

EX: W-3″-3089-SA 312- 22

The valves also follow a similar set up. This allows anyone looking at the P&ID drawings to instantly identify the product going through the pipe, the material of the pipe, and the pipe size.

Moving forwarded with the labeling was difficult. As with the rest of the plant, the Wine Room has a lot of pipes that the operators use every day, and some that they have not touched in the four years on the job. We had to find a balance in labeling. We’d ask ourselves, okay, might this line be helpful if they need to transfer something in the future? Also, how much information is too much? We analyzed the redline drawings, and generated an approach. On each pipe, the following information is spelled out:

Product-From-To (and direction of flow)

We also realized partway through that pipes *could* flow in two directions, but typically only went one way as in the example below:

The product is Hi Wine, coming from selected tanks of 51-82, heading to pump 14.

Another challenge we ran into was how to denote pipes which had main flows going two different ways.  How do we show where it is coming from and going to? How do we keep it consistent with the current format? Eventually we decided to simply split the label into two different parts, each showings the flow of one direction of the pipe, and the associated information for that pathway as seen below.

Two way flow pipe

On the left, you see that the contents of the pipe are a high wine. When the product is going left is is coming from pump 22 and going to pump 16. When product is traveling right through the pipe it is coming from the Tank Farm and going to tanks 51 and 59. Bold arrows are used in both directions because the pipe has a primary purpose both ways.

That is basically it!

MGP Lawrenceburg Distillery

Currently I am working at a distillery called Midwest Grain Products (MGP). The plant was formally owned by Seagrams for over ~75 years. Recently, it changed hands to Pernod Ricard, then CL Financial. MGP acquired the plant in 2013 and here we are! They primary make Whiskey, Gin, and Vodka–mainly Whiskey and Gin though, because it has a higher profit margin per wine produced when it is all said and done. Vodka (ethanol and water) can be made faster in other plants and in much greater quantities. Since its profit margin is lower per wine gallon, the plant does not focus on exporting as much of this product.

Where they have me working currently is what’s known as the “Wine Room.” Does it have anything to do with wine? Nope! To make spirits all alcohol basically goes through the general process: Grains —> Mash (grains mixed with water)—> Cooker —> Fermentation —> Distillation —> Storage —> Barreling/ Holding —> Loading/ Shipment. Depending on what part of the product you are tracing, you can add a lot more arrows, some even in different directions! However, this is the general flow.

The Wine Room receives the product (Vodka, Light Whiskey, Whiskey, or Gin) after the distillation phase. From there it will either be sent to a large tank farm for further use, or it is off to Building 88 where it is either barreled or loaded out as product. At the plant they never cross contaminate tanks. A tank that holds gin will always hold gin, etc. This is really important in order to maintain a quality product.

Spooky…

Some areas of the Wine Room are certainly easier than others. Mike and I spent roughly 5 hours tracing out all the pipes on one tank alone–probably our least favorite tank in the plant. You get pretty good at spotting pipe sizes after a while. One of the key things we learned when tracing pipes are that pumps, flange meetings, and valves can help you accurately size a pipe or identify its flow on a drawing. Of course, by now we can call a lot of the pipe sizes on the spot. We also take down any valve and motor information, etc. But it’s not all hard work, I learn of some pretty cool places to hide bodies if I ever wanted to murder someone…