Casa Sauza: Model of Digital Transformation in Tequila Production

An example of how this has already begun to take place is in the reorganization of production lines at Casa Sauza in January 2022 to push productivity increases and eliminate operators’ non-value-add activities. One such change involves placing a labeling machine directly alongside another labeling machine so that both labeling lines can be controlled by only one operator.

Training specifics

Festo Didactic, Festo’s division specializing in automation technology education, played a large role in training Casa Sauza personnel. Eng. Eduardo Ortiz Villagrana and Eng. Javier Eguía of Festo Didactic guided workers in an array of training programs, ranging from the functionality of programmable logic controllers to failure management and analysis. “Festo served as our business ally in learning what this new industrial model signifies and aiding our development,” says Nancy Beatriz Montoya, Casa Sauza’s human resources director.

Together, Festo and Casa Sauza designed a strategy for how each training subject would address workers’ needs while meeting the company’s vision for future growth. To do this, two groups were organized: One focuses on the fundamentals of mechanics, pneumatics, hydraulics, servomotors, and PLCs; the second is a special course on robotics designed to help workers better understand their functionality. “Nowadays, one technician operates a production process in full, from a computerized equipment station, because it is all connected to operate in an automated fashion,” says Perla Hernández, a member of the human resources team of Casa Sauza who has been involved with the company’s implementation of the Industry 4.0 model.

Maintenance technicians and electricians received advanced training in PLC programming to better engage with programming pre-existing and new controllers, as well as with aspects related to other automated equipment, such as servomotors. Currently, 97% of employees are operations technicians whose purpose is the collection of data through specific activities requiring knowledge of company procedures or techniques.

Operator flexibility

Thanks to Casa Sauza’s move to Industry 4.0, the company is also progressing towards Lean Manufacturing to give the company greater adaptability in the face of changing marketplace scenarios. “We have also worked on staff flexibility, so they can move through different teams; that way, a technician can operate simultaneously two lines, with less probability of reductions in throughput due to lack of operator competence,” Hernández says.

Since beginning Industry 4.0 training with Festo, Casa Sauza workers’ knowledge and skill levels have increased, both in distillery and bottling operations. “In the case of bottling, we are doubling productivity, while in the distillery we have added equipment without having to increase the number of technicians,” says Calderón.

Thanks to Casa Sauza’s move to Industry 4.0, the company is also progressing towards Lean Manufacturing to give the company greater adaptability in the face of changing marketplace scenarios.Casa Sauza

According to data gathered by Casa Sauza, efficiency has grown by 20%, while critical defect cases have been reduced by 50% since 2018. Another indicator of higher efficiencies achieved under the Industry 4.0 model is the flexibility of the company’s filling lines, which can now run more than 100 different product types with diverse presentations and bottle shapes.

Technology at the service of “tequilero” art

The process of tequila making has always included a high component of artistry to amaze the senses through taste and fragrance. But to fully comprehend, in real time, the chemical processes taking place during tequila production, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) levels of device and equipment connectivity are required to precisely process and analyze data in a way that can contribute to a tequila maker’s ability to surprise consumers.

The presence of gas and liquid chromatographs in the production lines makes possible to evaluate each one of the components, their behavior and contribution to the sensory profile of tequila, and guarantees a better understanding and precise management of the process, from the extraction of crude agave juice to its distillation. At stages such as the conversion of complex sugars into fructose and glucose, and of agave starch into simple sugars, the use of these devices has replaced the controls that previously took place in a laboratory. "Now we can see the transformation processes minute by minute and detect points at which cooking must be stopped to avoid reactions that inhibit fermentation," explains Servando Calderón.

Since beginning operations in 1873, Casa Sauza has used numerous distillation and preparation methods for its tequilas, ranging from manual production to fully automated processes. The company is now focusing on integrating Industry 4.0 production concepts.Casa Sauza

Another level of analysis being pursued by Casa Sauza via its Industry 4.0 technology adoption is the detection of congeners (byproducts of alcohol production) which provide aromatic and flavor characteristics to tequila. “Although the distillation we perform is now done with more knowledge, it remains an art form and no one else does it like Casa Sauza. That’s why generating information [from the production process] is not enough,” says Calderón. He says the added information generated by the company’s new Industry 4.0 processes enables the company to develop profiles preferred by consumers based on the identification of components that affect the tequila production in accordance to specific taste preferences.