Rockwell aids Heaven Hill's modernised Bardstown distillery

Rockwell Automation has supported the modernisation of Heaven Hill's new distillery in Bardstown with its PlantPAx control system. The project was delivered with systems integrator Opus Integration.

Heaven Hill has brought bourbon production back to Bardstown for the first time in decades, after a fire destroyed the distillery where it had produced bourbon since 1935. The new site was designed as a fully modernised facility, with plant-wide visualisation, cyber security measures and a digital control foundation built into operations from the start.

Opus Integration, a Rockwell Automation partner focused on industrial control systems and process automation, deployed the PlantPAx distributed control system across the distillery. The setup gives operators a single view of the production environment and reduces the time needed to identify operational problems.

One change at the site is the use of interlock objects that show operators what is preventing equipment from running. This removes the need to search through code or make repeated support calls to diagnose a stoppage.

The system also allows operators to review historical trends and compare previous production runs. According to the companies, this can support anomaly detection, process changes and ongoing operational improvements.

Heaven Hill is the world's largest independent bourbon maker and owns brands including Elijah Craig, Evan Williams and Heaven Hill. For a producer with more than 90 years of history, the move reflects an effort to pair established manufacturing processes with a more data-led operating model.

Rockwell said the infrastructure at the new distillery is intended to support the later use of artificial intelligence tools and other advanced technologies. Heaven Hill is already creating AI-focused roles to work with production data generated through the PlantPAx system.

The deployment reflects a broader trend in food and beverage manufacturing, as producers update plant controls to improve equipment visibility, reduce downtime and create larger pools of operational data. In distilling, where consistency and process control are central to output, these systems can also help operators track performance across batches and shifts.

Kris Dornan, Commercial Marketing Manager at Rockwell Automation, described the project as part of a longer-term shift in how the distillery will manage production data and plant operations.

"Creating a state-of-the-art distillery with digital transformation embedded from day one creates long-term advantages," said Dornan.

"Using the PlantPAx modern DCS, Opus and Heaven Hill have created a unified control and data environment, giving operators deep visibility into operations today while laying the groundwork for more advanced analytics and richer insights in the future," said Dornan.

Opus Integration said the work was intended to give staff more direct access to operating information while reducing the burden of manual fault-finding. It added that operator-level visibility was an important part of making the new facility easier to run.

"The PlantPAx DCS gives operators greater visibility into the distillery's operations than they've had in the past, allowing them to stay focused on delivering Heaven Hill's iconic products without worrying about the production process," said Don Ault, Owner and CEO of Opus Integration.

"Heaven Hill now has the real-time insights and information security it needs to succeed today and a foundation for digital evolution based on future business needs," said Ault.