Diageo Unveils Expanded Plainfield Plant

Diageo North America unveiled a $120 million expansion at its Plainfield facility on Tuesday, playing host to elected officials and other dignitaries who toured the 530,000-square-foot bottling facility.

Joining the tour were Plainfield Mayor Mike Collins, village trustees Jim Racich and Bill Lamb, along with Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-Shorewood), Will County Board member Liz Collins and Will County Center for Economic Development President and CEO John Greuling.

The plant, located at 24440 W. 143rd St., has added 100,000 square feet and 100 new jobs since 2011, according to Government Relations Director Toby Spangler. The facility sits on a 62-acre site.

The Plainfield location is Diageo's largest bottling operation in North America, according to Village Administrator Brian Murphy. It employs 600 people and bottles and packages Diageo brands including Smirnoff and Captain Morgan.

The expansion added three new high-speed bottling lines, a flexible production area and several high-tech packaging machines.

Murphy said the new lines were operational last October, and the entire expansion was completed by last spring.

Diageo rep Kimberly Newton said the Plainfield plant opened in 1966 as a gin distiller and bottling facility, with five bottling and packaging lines. Today, it has 10 lines, and ships between 120,000 to 150,000 cases per day, or about 31 million cases per year, Newton said.

“We started as a gin distillery and we’ve evolved over the years,” Newton said. That evolution has included steps to make the plant operate more efficiently, using a “greener” design that uses natural light and sensor-driven doors and lights. The company has also worked to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water usage. In 2009, the Plainfield site became Diageo’s first zero waste to landfill site, meaning no trash is sent to landfills or incinerators.

The expansion allows the plant to bottle a broader range of products, including a wider variety of popular Smirnoff flavored vodkas, Newton said.

In addition to the most recent expansion, Diageo in 2009 partnered with Logoplaste, the company’s major bottle supplier, to add a 40,000-square-foot bottling facility to the site, Murphy said. According to the Logoplaste website, the addition represented a $25 million investment and 40 new jobs.

Participants donned hairnets, steel-toed shoes and safety goggles for Tuesday's tour, which showcased the new high-speed bottling lines and packaging machines.

Racich was impressed with how clean and efficient the plant is, especially given the large volume of alcohol it bottles and ships daily.

“I can’t get over just the cleanliness,” he said. “Not only is [the plant] great for our community economy,” Racich added, but it offers sustainable employment.

According to Newton, some of the employees at the Plainfield location have worked there for more than 30 years.