Situated in San José, thirty kilometres from the centre of Havana, the new Havana Club distillery will be dedicated to the production of mature dark rum, a segment which is characterised by continuing worldwide growth. Remaining loyal to the tradition of Cuban rum the distillery will use traditional production methods based on the process known as ‘añejamiento natural’ (natural maturing) a series of production and ageing stages supervised by the Maestros Roneros, qualified and experienced master rum makers.
Equipped with six ageing wine and spirits stores known as ‘naves de añejamiento’, this rum distillery will have the largest capacity for ageing rum anywhere in the world.
Elcimaï and HCI: from role of assembler to global project management
Elcimaï, a leading player in the world of industrial and logistical buildings, as well as information technology, has been commissioned to assist with the project and works management in the construction of the production unit for Havana Club International mature dark rum for the Pernod Ricard Group.
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credits photos Pernod Ricard
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This project, with equal support Pernod Ricard and Cuba Ron, a subsidiary of the Cuban state rum production company, has created a first for the global wines and spirits operator which had never before constructed an “ex nihilo” unit.
The unit, covering an area of 20 hectares, will produce, over the long term, 35 million litres of the “Havana Club” brand rum each year for the global market.
“We were awarded this contract against competition from several major European rivals, in particular from Spain. The initial task was to conduct a definitive study and to monitor the construction of a group of industrial buildings, to include their integration into the process and the utilities. We presented the initial definitive project to Cuba in Autumn 2004 » remembers Olivier Naudin, COO of Elcimaï Ingénierie, a subsidiary of the Elcimaï Group.
Very shortly afterwards, at the end of 2004, Pernod Ricard decided to broaden the scope of the activities of Elcimaï, giving it the task of assisting in the project management and widening its task in particular in the work package process …
“By making this decision it was our client’s aim to take our partnership another stage further in order to ensure overall management of the project so as to achieve the best choices for the work packages. It should be noted that the construction of this kind of unit requires continuous control, both in terms of quantity and quality (procurements, procedures, budgetary adjustments, planning objections etc.)” stipulates Olivier Naudin.
“Pernod Ricard wanted to strengthen its internal structure dedicated to the monitoring of this type of project, not wanting to leave anything to chance” explains Jean-Pierre Fradin, Pdg of Elcimaï Ingénierie. “Our transverse involvement in the entire work package is an indication of the confidence placed in us and proof our efficacy since we were moving on from the role of assembler to a role of project manager together with everything this entails such as responsibility for the strategic area”.
Over and above the budgetary aspects and construction deadlines, it is the quality of the site that represented the key to the project. Quality in terms of the internal standards of the Pernod Ricard Group, quality for guaranteeing supply but equally environmental quality. In addition, the site had to be “visitable “, in other words designed in a way that was both ergonomic and aesthetically attractive, like a showcase for the industrial strength of Pernod Ricard. To these requirements we must add safety and risk prevention.
“In France this site would have been classed as Seveso 2 since it is subject to very stringent requirements in terms of design and protection against the risks associated with the production and storage of alcoholic products, in particular fire and explosion.. To give a comparison, the fire protection system that we have put in place is equivalent to that of an airport such as Bordeaux-Mérignac“ states Olivier Naudin.
Elcimaï, two supplementary offerings in the service of Pernod Ricard.
Strengthened by its experience in the management of information systems and, in parallel with its industrial engineering task, in Autumn 2005 Elcimaï was assigned a consulting role for the deployment and parameterisation of the ERP M3 Enterprise Management System from Lawson (ex Movex d’Intentia).
“This involvement by our subsidiary Elcimaï Conseil was conducted almost on a self-evident basis to the extent where there was complementarity in expertise and resources since the IT project remained within the same group, as a result, significantly simplifying the exchange of information. It should be noted that our multi-disciplinary teams tend to work in synergy on projects which combine industrial engineering and information technology. It is moreover the foundation upon which our commercial offering is based” recalls Jean-Pierre Fradin..
In addition, the quality of the services rendered by Elcimaï Conseil enabled the company to move up a level as Pernod-Ricard has delegated the deployment and parameterization of the ERP to Elcimaï.
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“Throughout our collaboration arrangement with Pernod Ricard we have actually always in a position to deliver an added value that is able to ensure the long term survival of the site. This was the case for example with the engineering specifications (consultation and assistance in execution) for the packaging line which is at the heart of the production tool. We applied ourselves to pointing out, whenever we felt this necessary, the discrepancies between the functional needs and proposed solutions, thus meeting our client’s objectives in terms of quantities and quality” Jean-Pierre Fradin told us.
During the 24 months needed before the first Havana Club bottles left the packaging line (beginning December 2006) the Elcimaï teams had mobilised themselves in order to meet the task that had been set for them. In addition to the size of the unit as well as the quality requirements, carrying out a construction on an island 8,000 kilometres from France, under difficult climatic conditions, represented a genuine challenge. More than 350 containers were imported from Europe, 400 personnel worked on the site for a total of 130,000 man days under the responsibility of Elcimaï.
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credits photos Pernod Ricard
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