For distillers and new distillery start-ups, implementing effective process control goes beyond maintaining the consistency and quality of your spirits. It’s a way you can ensure you are crafting a product that stands out in an increasingly competitive market.
This article delves into the essential aspects of process control in distillery operations, explaining what needs to be monitored and considered in terms of process and equipment.
We’ll also look at a few steps that can be taken to ensure consistent performance.
What is Process Control in a distilling context?
Process control involves managing and monitoring various stages of the distillation process to ensure that the final product meets the desired taste, aroma, and alcohol content.
It’s important because it directly relates to the quality and character of the spirits produced.
At its most direct, Process Control is about implementing effective techniques to maintain consistency, comply with regulations, and achieve commercial success. It’s about taking chance and mysterious alchemy out of the equation!
Key areas of Process Control to focus on:
Variation: Inevitable changes in process or input materials that can affect the final product. It’s unavoidable! Examples of managing process variation include monitoring temperature, fermentation time, and alcohol content.
Specifications and tolerance: The defined parameters within which the product must fall. Examples of this in practice include setting clear specifications for each aspect of the distillation process and defining acceptable tolerances. Not every batch will be identical, nor take the exact same amount of time etc, but they can’t stray too far either.
Statistical process control (SPC): SPC is a method of quality control that uses statistical methods to inform actions. SPC helps in identifying trends, patterns, and anomalies in a process, enabling timely adjustments to maintain quality.
Monitoring & training: It’s important to recognise the potential for errors in measurements and sampling methods. No process control is possible without human interpretation. There are only a few machines that can automatically help you adjust a what’s happening (for example, auto adjust cooling / heating in a fermenting vessel), and even few that can correctly interpret data in real time.
Regular training sessions on process monitoring, equipment handling, and quality control can significantly enhance operational efficiency. Training staff in accurate sampling techniques and ways to understand information is the biggest element of a successful process.
Implementing effective process control strategies
Use control charts
Control charts are essential tools in process control. They graphically represent process data over time, helping distillers to spot trends, shifts, or any unusual patterns that may indicate a process problem.
For those who don’t have a natural affinity with numbers – the graphic presentation can be a great way to engage with the subject and far easier to grasp. By regularly reviewing these charts, distillers can pre-emptively address issues before they impact the quality of the spirit.
Carry out capability analysis
This analysis assesses whether a process is capable of producing output within the specified limits consistently. Understanding the capability of your ferment, distillation, infusion or maturation process is useful as it allows you to calculate ahead of time. It is far cheaper to run the math than it is to run a full scale trial…
Install helpful In-line automation
Implementing automated systems for real-time monitoring can significantly enhance process control. These systems provide continuous data on various process parameters, allowing for immediate adjustments. Many even automatically feed control charts too!
This level of control is especially beneficial in maintaining consistent quality in larger batch productions.
Some of the current options are well documented (especially around mashing and fermenting) but the distilling industry is continually evolving with new technologies and techniques. Staying updated with these advancements can offer new opportunities for improving process control and product quality.
The role of risk management
While the tendency of Process Control is to optimise for desired outcomes and provide tools to discuss how, risk management is also an integral part of what it can deliver operationally. This is especially true in the distilling industry where safety is paramount.
Many larger distilleries actively incorporate risk management into process control.
By identifying potential risks, developing mitigation strategies, and continuously monitoring and improving processes, they maintain operational safety, comply with regulations, and uphold their reputation for quality.
Integrating Risk Management with Process Control
How to do both at once is simple. All you need to do is take a holistic approach and integrate risk management into all aspects of process control.
This ensures that specific risks are considered at every stage of production. Because it’s being tracked and considered simultaneously, you can have a high level of mitigation on specific risks that are the result of a culmination of circumstances. For example, bacteria / yeast vs temp, time.
Use data from process monitoring and risk assessments to make informed decisions and adjustments.
The added benefit of doing both at the same time, is that it can help foster a collaborative environment where different departments work together. No part of making a spirit from scratch is a silo. One process affect the next and one fluctuation plays out down stream. By setting risk metrics in process control, it can help alert the following stage of production and give you a chance to take corrective action.
How does this play out in the real world?
Distillers identify potential risks in each stage of the distillation process, from raw material handling to bottling. This includes risks related to temperature control, contamination, and equipment failure. They also include environmental factors such as fluctuations in temperature or humidity, which can affect fermentation and ageing processes.
These risks are marked out in the control charts, flagged in settings where automated in-line control is set up and defined when calculating capability analysis. Often – you’ll find red lines on charts, alarms and buzzers linked to data inputs (like temp, CO2, pressure or flow rate)
Once done, they implement preventive measures to prevent risks, such as regular equipment maintenance, quality checks of raw materials, and rigorous sanitation protocols. You could also develop plans for dealing with unforeseen events, such as equipment breakdowns or supply chain disruptions.
The last factor is the most important. Distilleries encourage a culture where staff can report potential risks or issues without fear of reprisal. They use this feedback to improve processes and safety measures.
Five key steps for new distilleries or distillery managers
If you are interested in implementing effective process control, here are five easy to implement areas to ensure consistent performance and operations.
By following these steps, new distilleries and managers can establish robust process control mechanisms that not only ensure consistent quality but also lay the groundwork for innovation and growth.
Use them as a start point and customise and adapt from there!
Establish clear specifications and tolerances:
Define precise specifications for each stage of the distillation process, including ingredient quality, fermentation conditions (if relevant), and distillation parameters (charge ABV, time, temp, flow rate, cuts etc.)
Set acceptable tolerance ranges to guide production and ensure consistent quality. These should be based on product-specific requirements.
Implement regular monitoring and adjustment protocols:
Develop a routine for regularly monitoring key process parameters like temperature, pressure, and alcohol content. What kind of chart? Who will fill it out? Don’t just take notes for the sake of it, map out what happens when data doesn’t fit within parameters – what’s the action that needs to be taken?
Train staff to make necessary adjustments promptly when deviations from the set specifications are detected. Make time every day to review the data captured.
Use statistical tools for analysis:
Incorporate statistical process control (SPC) tools, such as control charts, to track and analyse process data week after week.
Use this data to identify patterns, trends, and potential areas of improvement in the distillation process. Review it each month as a team.
Implement In-line process control systems:
Invest in automated in-line process control systems for real-time monitoring and adjustment of the distillation process. There’s no need to have hundreds of buzzers and alarms and timers (some are helpful though). That said, having a few ways of recording data automatically on a computer will save a lot of time and provide far better statistical data to work off.
Develop a culture of continuous improvement and learning:
Encourage a culture where feedback is sought, and learning is continuous. Take pride about being on the learning journey!
Regularly review processes and stay informed about industry trends. Be open to adopting new technologies and methods that can improve product quality and operational efficiency.
Once you start to operate at scale and you want to make the exact product each and every time – Process Control becomes the backbone of any successful distilling operation.
Both process Control and Quality Control can be a bit boring. It can take the fun and the mystique out of it – but that’s also the point. Making the same thing over and again is the craft of distilling! By implementing effective control strategies, monitoring key process parameters, and embracing continuous improvement, distilleries can ensure the production of high-quality spirits day in, day out.
Ultimately, a thorough and proactive approach to process control paves the way for not just meeting but exceeding industry standards, thereby cementing a distillery’s reputation for excellence.
