Automated case packers at Jim Beam: automated equipment protects bottles and increases...

When it comes to case packing machinery, few bottling operations are more demanding than at Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. (Deerfield, Ill., www.beamglobal.com). The owner of the 211-year-old bourbon brand Jim Beam has grown dramatically over the past few years. By expanding its product portfolio through corporate acquisitions and introducing new spirits and wine brands, it has moved from the seventh to the fourth-largest spirits company in the world. Its 2006 net sales came in at $1.75 billion.

With a steady stream of new brands, such as the DeKuyper Pucker line of