Ear on Chicago; The Pause That Refreshes: Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Chicago

That is the sound of Coca -Cola bottles being placed in the cases and ready for shipping to your retailer. This is going to be the story of the bottling of Coca -Cola. Our story will start at the place where the basic ingredients arrive to the syrup manufacturing plant located at the corner of Fillmore and Pulaski on Chicago's Great South Side. We're standing now at the loading dock and we're going to be talking to Mr. Charles Wilson who is the assistant manager of the syrup plant. Right out here in front of us Mr. Wilson is your loading dock and we see in front of us a number of workers carrying bags of sugar off of that large railroad car. First of all I suppose this is a siding of one of the major railroads in Chicago. This is a siding of the Baltimore, Ohio, Chicago terminal company. Where is that sugar being shipped from? This particular sugar came from somewhere near the west coast. Now what happens? Let's walk out here first of all closer

so we can see what's going on. As we mentioned a number of workers are taking bags of sugar off of the cars and putting them on the dolly carts and moving them into the warehouse. Now what about these bags of sugar? What happens to them once you get them out of the box car and into the building? They are going directly to the point of usage. That is where they are mixed with other ingredients and water to produce syrup. What about the bags themselves? They are paper bags do you have those thrown away or used over or what? No those bags are bundled and sold for scrap. I see. Well now we already have the sugar here so suppose we go to our next step which would be what? Perhaps it would be well for us to observe the method by which we maintain storage of sugar which is retained for emergency use and at the same time we could drop by our water treating plant which is a very important part of our operation. Fine let's go.

Well Mr. Wilson we have come now to your water treating department and we are standing right next to the storage of sugar. First of all let me describe the scene as we stand here in your water treating room. Outside of the door there are huge stacks of sacks of sugar and these stacks are covered over with some sort of cloth material, large sheets of looks like muslin cloth. Could you tell me about that and why you do that? Well the claws are merely a matter of good housekeeping. I would like to comment on the fact that this sugar which is stored is under a controlled humidity system. The humidity is controlled in order to keep the sugar pliable and easy to handle. Alright now we have the sugar all stored and ready for use. Let's get over here to this particular operation.

This is what you call a water treating. Now as I understand it Mr. Wilson you take the water from Chicago, water supply which of course is like Michigan and as it comes in here while you treat it. I just noticed gentlemen in a white uniform come in here to this room to take a sampling of the water. I suppose that this is one of your chemists is that not true? This is Mr. Harold Davis branched chemist and perhaps he could elaborate on the system of water treatment for your benefit. Mr. Davis we started by mentioning a large tank of water should get from the city water supply in this large tank just over my right shoulder. Now what happens to it after it leaves that tank and goes in through these series of pipes and valves and filters over here? Well before we say what happens to it after it leaves there maybe we ought to say what happens to it while it's in there. Right. That's our settling tank. All the city water comes into it at the top and at the same time it's coming in we're feeding it these chemicals to treat

it. Now we're treating it for alkalinity reduction, chlorination and coagulation. All these little tanks you see down here with the feeders on them are the tanks that hold the chemicals. This larger one holds lime which is responsible for the alkalinity reduction of the water. These two smaller ones are consists of chlorine solutions which chloronates the water to kill any bacteria of any description. This other one holds our coagulant which forms just as I say a coagulant in the water and takes all suspended matter to the bottom. Now in this big tank up here we have a series of smaller tanks and the water circulates through those tanks with the help of an agitator and it's in that big tank for a period of at least two hours so that all the chemical reactions can take place. Now all the time this two hours has been going on against

this water we've had an excess of chlorine in there and these other tanks that you see over here in series rather with these take out the chlorine. They consist of big beds of activated carbon which is responsible for taking out the chlorine. After that this water goes through this array of pipes here over to the far end of our building where we manufacture and restored in approximately 6 ,000 gallon tanks which we have two of and that process goes on continually all day long. This is a rather complicated process which you've just described and I suppose Harold that I should ask the question that would be on everybody else's mind why do you do this? Why don't you just use the water that you get from Chicago water supply? Well we could but we don't consider that's quite good enough. We want it the best we can make it and that's why we have all this expensive equipment and we do make it as good as we possibly know how. One more question I noticed that you were taking a sample of the water now what are you going to do

with that? That's right sir we come down here quite frequently and sample these sources of water at different points in this treatment to make sure that it's functioning properly at all times. And where do you take it to the lab? Yes sir take it to the lab. Well Mr. Wilson I suppose our next step then would be to go up to the lab and take a look at that operation. Mr. Wilson we've come into the lab now and a moment ago we were talking with Harold Davis concerning the chemical analysis of treated water but obviously you do many other things in here. What occurs in the lab? Well this is the point at which we analyze all of the materials which go into the finished product as well as analyzing and taste testing the syrup itself. Now suppose I walk over here and talk to Harold Davis about the subject that we were discussing earlier and that's the analysis of treated water. Harold what about that? We noticed that you were taking a beaker of water out of the vat

downstairs and bringing it up here to the lab. What happens then? That's true I was sampling that water at various points down there and I bring it up here to check it to see if it's meeting our specifications. Now you'll notice we have one whole panel in our lab devoted to our water. We can check this as we bring it up at this particular time and also every time we run our water treatment system at any time we have a faucet over there which is coming directly from our tanks and we can get a sample of that water and run it for the same tests which I don't know whether I should go into or not because they're rather technical however over on our panel you see we are all set up to check immediately for the chlorine and alkalinity that's to see how much alkaline salts are in the water to see how much of it's removed and also for heavy metals that's a rather easy testing program but we do it every time we make a tank of syrup here. Now

also Mr. Wilson mentioned that you not only test all of your ingredients but you check it for taste are you also a taster? Well yes sir in a way we are that we're responsible for the taste of it we have several people around here whom we consider good tasteers and they are on our panel and they include members of the management and members of the production staff of which Mr. Wilson is one of them the superintendent is one I am one and we bring in others too. It has to pass a rigid test then with these gentlemen doesn't it? Yes sir it surely does they're responsible too and it has to meet their approval too. All right Harold thank you very much. While we've talked about the lab operation Mr. Wilson suppose we get into the actual mixture of the syrup where is that taking place? Fine we'll go just outside where sugar and other ingredients are being introduced into our mixing tank.

We've come out of the point where the syrup is actually being mixed in a large tank some workers and you can hear them probably in the background are have just completed pouring some ingredients in the large tank and we can see it swirling down below. Now there's another worker over here hosing down the tank itself. Mr. Wilson suppose you tell us a little bit about this operation. This is the point at which the sugar and water and other ingredients are actually introduced into our 5 ,000 gallon stainless steel mixing tanks. All of the time the sugar is being poured into the tank the water is coming in from another location while still other ingredients are entering through a flavoring port. I noticed a little mechanism over here Mr. Wilson it has a number of lights

and then there's a key in the middle. Could you tell us about that? That is the control mechanism for the individual water gauge on each one of our mixing tanks. Now what's the significance of those different colored lights Mr. Wilson? Perhaps this would be a good time to introduce Mr. Fred Jasmine our plant superintendents who can give you a more comprehensive answer than can I. Now what about the rest of those lights? What do they mean? Your green light is the indicates that your tank is running the motor is running on your tank and your white light is indicates that water is coming into the tank when you press the button to leave the water in and the red light and the red light is off. That means the tank is off. That's right. Besides the lights Mr. Jasmine we also noticed that one of the workers came along and turned off some valves over here and then padlocked one of those valves. Now what what occurs there? Well we padlocked that valve so nobody would open it

at any time and leave an addition amount of water into the tank. We have a certain amount of water that is required in that tank and we don't want any more in. Your recipe in that tank is complete now you don't want any more additions or any subtractions. That is correct. One further thing I think we ought to mention before we leave that just after the tank was filled with the mixture we saw one of the men come over and put this large stainless steel cover over the top of the tank. Now a little while ago we were talking about covering up the sacks of sugar I suppose that as Mr. Wilson says this is just good housekeeping. That is correct. That hood is closed and it is locked until the next batch of syrup is made in the tank. And while we're standing here that mixture that in all those ingredients are swirling around down below in that big 5 ,000 gallon tank. That's going to be the finished product. That is the finished product. All right thank you very much Mr. Jasmine now we go back here to our guide Mr.

Wilson what happens next? Perhaps the logical step from this point would be to go downstairs where the syrup is packaged in 54 gallon stainless steel drums. We now have the syrup mixed in the large containers that we told you about just a moment ago. We've come now down to the floor below where they're going to fill the 54 gallon drums with the syrup. Mr. Wilson I think perhaps first of all we might talk briefly about how these drums are sterilized before they're actually brought up here for filling. That is a very important point. These drums are sterilized and thoroughly washed inside and out by the use of a special drum washer which was developed by the engineers of our company in coordination with the manufacturer. Is that done just below us here? Yes sir

that's done through the use of very hot water. Now I might describe just briefly Mr. Wilson the operation here as I can see it after the drums are sterilized in the floor below. They're brought up here and we can see drums surrounding us hundreds of them and these drums are all filled right here in front of us from these large vats where the mixture is being made up right now. The syrup will come out of the vats and into the drums through these various pipes and through the valves. Now how do you control the 54 gallons? Is that what these scales up here for Mr. Wilson? That is control through the individual scale on each filler and also by a needle valve on the filler itself. Well now may I ask when these drums are finally filled with 54 gallons of syrup what happens then?

They are then ready for distribution to our botters scattered throughout this territory. Before we leave Mr. Wilson I'd like to comment on the cleanliness of your operation here it's really amazing the work that you do it seems to me every minute somebody is cleaning up and probably that's imperative for your operation I'm sure it is. But one other thing I'd like to ask you about and that's the distribution of the syrup. How many states or how much of a territory do you cover? Well we supply all our part of the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. That's quite an operation. Now I noticed over there on the loading dock where we started this particular description of your operation here a truck has pulled up and is loading some of the drums. Now what is going to happen there is that truck going out to the bottles?

That's the load of filled drums on its way to one of our local bottling plants. Now that'll be our next step and we'll leave you here Mr. Wilson and we want to thank you very much for being our guide on the syrup plant here on the south side of Chicago. Thank you Mr. Hill. We have come now to a Coca -Cola bottling company located at 73rd in state straight on the south side of Chicago. The last time we talked to you we were speaking about filling the drums with syrup and the syrup was being delivered. This is one of the bottling companies to which the syrup is delivered. Just a few moments ago we saw a large truck pull up to the door here just behind us and deliver the syrup in the big drums. Now these drums weigh over 700 pounds so they're handled by putting them on their sides and rolling them so we have a number of drums which are overturned laying over here in front of us maybe 50 or 60 of them.

Our guide on this particular occasion is going to be Jack Madigan and he's going to tell us a little bit about the operation here at the bottling company. Now Jack as far as we're concerned we have the drums arrived here at your location and rolled over into position. Now what happens next? Well the next thing that happens here at our plant is that our drums are rolled to a stainless steel container where they are then open. That's right over here. That's right over here Jack and take a look at this container. From one drum leading into this large stainless steel container here is a hose. What's going on there Jack? Well we are now pumping into our stainless steel containers where they are then distributed and sent down. The syrup is then distributed and sent downstairs. Now I understand that you have to pump it through a wire mesh screen is that right? That is correct that also is stainless steel to prevent any corrosion or anything of that sort. Why the screen Jack to keep out foreign particles? In the event that somewhere along the line there should be a small tiny particle it will pick

out that particle and keep it from going into the product. Right next to the stainless steel drums right in front of them are two large air pressure or water pressure containers. What are they? Those are called the aerators. They are nothing more than units to remove the air from the water. Now Jack the next step after the syrup leaves these large stainless steel containers it goes downstairs is that right? That is correct. What happens when it is down there? When we send the syrup through stainless steel lines downstairs we send them to what is called a sin crometer. Well Jack let's go down and take a look at that sin crometer. I think we can probably describe it much better from downstairs. We have come now down to the sin crometer and the cooler Jack but I suppose we better get out of here because it's a little bit too noisy. We move out here into the hallway where we can do a little talking about the sin

crometer. Now Jack the sin crometer is not a very large machine over here just exactly what does it do as a series of gadgets and meters and so on and wires and tubes but tell me exactly what it does. Well now the sin crometer has two pumps of fix to it one being a water pump the other a syrup pump in addition to that there are two meters one a syrup meter and the other a water meter. Now the pumps of course bring the syrup and the water to the respective meters where they are then mixed in an exact proportion of five and a half to one and then sent to the carbocooler which then cools the mixture and adds the CO2 to form the carbonated product. The actual mixture is not done in the sin crometer. The mixture of the syrup and the water is proportioned by the sin crometer and is actually mixed in the carbocooler through a meandering pan or dispersing pan.

Now in order to describe it a little bit more plainly I think I can say this Jack that's from the sin crometer the water and the syrup move in those tubes going over there to that cooler that right is correct. Now when it gets over there it already is proportion having done that at the sin crometer and then it drops into this large cooler in the proper proportion that's correct. Now what happens in the cooler? Why do you say what do you say as coolers that actually kept cool in there? It is actually a refrigeration unit the reason being that it is cooled to get the get the carbonated water to a proportion and get the gas into the water to form the carbonated water. The cooling does nothing more than make it easier for the CO2 gas or carbon dioxide gas to enter the liquid. All right now Jack we've finished this process and we've gotten to the point

where you're going to have to start putting this Coca -Cola in the bottles. Now why don't we go to your bottling operation and start with the bottles coming into the into the plant. All right Mike. That's the sound of empty bottles being dropped onto a conveyor belt. They're going to be sent into a washer and sterilization machine. This is one of the most important parts of the bottling operation of course is to make sure that the bottles are completely sterilized. We're going to talk now to the form of the plant. Ray Farley. Ray first of all let me describe briefly what is happening here. The empty bottles are arriving in cases they're placed on some rollers and the rollers in turn move them down into the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt picks them up, moves them down through this operation. Now I brought it up to this point here where something is happening in there to grab the top of the bottle,

lift it out of the case and the case goes down the shoot. How does that work in there Ray? Well there are approximately 50 to 75 clamps in this machine. As the case moves down the power driven conveyor these clamps clamp the neck of the bottles and remove them from the carton. Parton goes on its way somewhere else. That is correct. Now Ray after they are picked up out of the carton in turn they are dropped onto this next conveyor belt which has something on it that looks like soap. What is that? That is a lubricant product which tends to have the, makes the bottom of the bottle's light whereas if there is any friction whatsoever the bottles will naturally fall over. Now as they move along this conveyor belt they're placed over here in this rather large much larger conveyor before they go into that machine over there. Why do you have them stacked up like that just waiting their turn? That is correct. This is what we call accumulating table whereas in turn

one bottle feeds the other bottle through the machine. Now tell us a little bit about this huge sterilization and washing machine. What do you call it Ray? This we refer to as a soaker. What do you have a special mixture in there of some kind of chemicals? There is five different compartments in this machine. Four of these compartments are treated with plastic, a certain amount percentage of plastic solution. Also these tanks are heated to a certain temperature or sterilization. Is this all one machine from here until the other end of the building? This is one complete unit. When they're washed quite a number of times before they reach the other end. They are actually washed four different times in these four different tanks and the fifth tank is nothing but a clear water solution for a rinse. Well now that's the point where we're going to next ray and for the moment we're going to leave you here and pick you up later. Going to go back down to the other end of this washing machine and once again talk to Jack Madigan.

We have now come to the other end of the bottle washing operation. We're standing just a few feet away from where the bottles after having been cleaned are brought out of the machine and placed onto a conveyor belt. Jack suppose you and I step out here a little ways where we have a little more quiet and we can talk. Now after the bottles come out of the washer and onto the conveyor belt they go past a fluoroscopic plate. What happens there Jack? At that point we have a manual inspector that will pick out any bottle that is chipped or broken or scuffed and bad. After they've gone through that cleaning operation they're extremely clean aren't they? They are. They glisten like nobody's business. All right now we've gotten to the point Jack where we can start putting the Coca -Cola into the bottle. After it reaches the conveyor belt and goes past that fluoroscope comes over here to a whirling machine. Now what happens

there? That is what we call our filler. The bottles are fed into the filler and are filled each one individually and this charge at the other end of the filler the circular and then cap. Now it has to be a certain amount and only a certain amount in that bottle does it not. That is correct we have a device that in the filling operation that actually determines just to the exact amount how much liquid will go in each bottle. Now as the bottles come out of that filling machine again they go onto a conveyor belt and through what I would normally call a camping operation what do you call it? We call that our crowner. Well now Jack not very far away from that crowning operation there's some more interesting gadgets out here. Now I might describe the physical aspects of it. The bottles come out of the crowner onto the conveyor belt in a single line.

A few feet away they're separated into two lines one going one way and one going the other and far down towards the other end of the building we can see that they're being placed in cartons and the cartons being placed in cases and bucked in wooden cases. But before they get there there's another whirling machine down here what happens there? That is what we call our beverage inspection machine it is nothing more than an electronic unit to inspect the liquid in the bottle to make sure that there are no particles of our foreign ingredients in that liquid. This machine runs at 204 bottles per minute. 204 bottles per minute that's correct. This is what we call an automatic packer. The cases moved over by what we refer to as flight bars pushing the case into position. On their trip lift the table of the that the case is sitting on and

from there different cams go into operation. The pack case packer counts out exactly 24 bottles and drops them into the case. The air valve is then released where the table drops in the next case and pushed in the position. All right Ray thanks a million for telling us about that particular part of the operation and we have the Coca -Cola is now ready for delivery to the retailer and finally into the consumers home and to the refrigerator.