Well-known process automation and control specialist, ABM Limited has been awarded a £1.5 million contract for a major turnkey capacity expansion project at Fuller's Griffin Brewery in Chiswick.

Due for completion by Easter 2002, the project will centre on Fuller's old brewery fermenting room, known as the Tun Room, where the building will need to be extended and equipped with new fully automated maturation and brewing vessels. ABM's brief includes the need to prepare the way for future expansion as well as to complete the project quickly within a very tight budget.

The project comprises a number of stages:

• A full civil, structural and technical survey of the Tun Room and of the process control systems throughout the brewery
• Design and construction of all civil engineering aspects of the project so that any future expansion is already catered for. This will require the roof to be removed, raised and replaced
• Installation of four additional maturation vessels (MVs) and two fermentation vessels (FVs) along with all associated pipe work
• Provision of a fully automated process control system, requiring minimal operator intervention. The new control system will integrated fully with the existing site network
• Completion, commissioning and handover of the new installation within nine months

There were a number of key features of ABM's successful proposal:

• Its proven project management expertise to coordinate the various aspects of the project as principal contractor, and its ability to deliver turn key projects on time and within very tight budgets
• Its successful track record of working with all types of existing process control systems
• The innovative use of existing vessels and tanks to provide the MVs and FVs

As Chris Lindsay, Technical Director of ABM explained: "The key to this exciting project is to ensure that we deliver Fuller's required capacity expansion on-time and within budget as well as to prepare for future expansion. We anticipate that we will complete all the work on-time or even ahead of schedule."

John Keeling, Fuller's Production Director added: "ABM have completed a number of projects for us since we first worked with them in 1988. We have complete confidence in their ability to deliver what we need with no disruption to production."