MCE: The Valve Expert Behind Bourbon’s 24/7 Production Uptime
MCE’s solution provider, Nightwine, a valve and actuation distributor serving Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Western Pennsylvania, specializes in tailored solutions to keep plants running at full production. Nightwine’s experts provide the specialized knowledge and responsive service to resolve issues affecting uptime.
Key Products and Services: Flow control products (valves, industrial ball valves, butterfly valves, pneumatic and electric actuators, regulators, and associated components) and valve automation services.
Industries Served:
The following success story demonstrates MCE’s commitment to ensuring customer success.
A major bourbon distillery was experiencing issues with large float and thermostatic steam traps from another vendor that had been failing within months of installation.
These failures created a risk of catastrophic downtime, as the distillery runs a continuous, steady-state process. This distillery’s production schedule is both seasonal and continuous, running 24/7, 365 days a year. Any failure or interruptions in the steam feed to the stills would halt the entire plant’s operation, triggering a complete shutdown and halting production of up to 2,000 barrels per day.
What’s in a barrel?
- A barrel of bourbon typically yields about 200 bottles (750 ml).
- Prices for a barrel can span from $6,500 to $11,500 (influenced by factors such as brand reputation, flavor profile, bourbon age, and barrel uniqueness.)
As a result, this distillery was on pace to lose millions of dollars per day.
Downtime isn’t just inconvenient — it can impact product availability and plant production plans for years to come, creating a domino effect of major financial risk.
“Without production running, this bourbon distillery could lose 1,500 – 2,000 barrels a day.”
– Jesse Smith, outside sales representative at Nightwine, an MCE company.
The distillery turned to Jesse Smith, an outside sales representative for MCE-Nightwine, for his deep technical knowledge and industry expertise.
Smith brought in a steam system manufacturer to thoroughly evaluate the problem. The team determined that the original traps were undersized and suffered from excessive pressure drops and increased velocity, which eroded the internal components.
Together, they specified a larger, higher-capacity thermostatic steam trap with:
The planned plant downtime also required custom flange modifications and pipe fitting to accommodate dimensional differences between trap models—a common consideration in retrofitting steam systems.
The new thermostatic steam trap is projected to prevent these unnecessary and costly downtime events, avoiding the loss of up to 2,000 barrels a day.
Additionally, Smith helps the distillery proactively assess and prepare for future needs, checking inventory, advising on upcoming outages, and recommending component quantities. Through MCE-Nightwine, Smith supports their operations by:
The distillery values MCE-Nightwine for helping to protect 24/7 bourbon production uptime and assisting on critical upgrade plans for the future.
What makes us different?
Our team has deep industry experience. Smith’s consultative relationship with the distillery began years ago when he helped solve recurring valve failures—especially on mash valves critical to production. By engineering a tailored flow meter solution and providing local support through a single manufacturer, he helped the facility achieve long-term reliability. With an engineering degree and 15 years of technical sales experience, Smith is a trusted advisor—often called before issues are even fully defined.
Smith's engineering degree and years of technical sales experience give him a deep understanding of the instrumentation, valves, flow, pressure, and steam systems his customers rely on. To such an extent that his customers often call him before they even define their problem, trusting him to evaluate the process and recommend the right solution.
Consultative Sales Approach
Smith emphasizes that success in projects like this isn’t about pushing products — it's about listening, evaluating the process conditions, and developing custom-fit solutions. His ability to speak engineer-to-engineer was another significant part of that process.
“The more value you provide, the more customers open up about their actual pain points,” said Smith. “We don’t just walk in with a catalog. We show up, ask questions, evaluate the process, and recommend something that will last.”
That consultative approach, built on years of technical experience and relationship development, has helped MCE-Nightwine to gain deeper involvement in engineering decisions, moving from order takers to specification partners.
Going Beyond the Product to the Solution
MCE-Nightwine's portfolio enables it to offer more than just valves. Our capabilities include full process solutions, including flow, pressure, level, and temperature instrumentation.
Industry Expertise
Distilleries face complex challenges when selecting vendors, products, and services that align with their highly technical needs. These highly specialized industries require hands-on experience and deep industry insight from their supply partners, and decision-makers seek more than a product seller.
With experience rooted in engineering and a career spanning oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, water and wastewater treatment, and mining, Nightwine’s team has the technical depth and application knowledge their customers need for peak performance.
MCE complements that expertise with a broad portfolio of products, services, and technical support that extends beyond valves and automation.
Ease of Doing Business
MCE’s diverse range of divisions under one roof enables customers to simplify procurement through a single trusted partner, resulting in more streamlined operations, reduced costs, and enhanced overall efficiency.
Smith said: “Through the eyes of a buyer, it’s easy to do business with us because we can source many items with direct representation. We’re also not limited to one manufacturer or the other. Our broad capabilities allow us to offer the right solution for their exact needs.”
Responsiveness and Dependability
MCE’s specialized divisions collaborate to deliver coordinated, end-to-end solutions that make sense. Smith says MCE’s accessibility, quick turnaround, and direct involvement in problem-solving are primary reasons his customers turn to them for their procurement needs.
“People don’t have time to do ten different jobs anymore. They heavily rely on people they can trust. It’s not just about what you say you’ll do. Trust grows with follow through.”
MCE’s approach is built on trust, technical expertise, and solutions — not just products. In industries where downtime can affect production for a decade or more, we are a partner you can trust.
MCE’s solution provider, Nightwine, helps manufacturers achieve greater operational efficiency. Their capabilities go beyond valve and automation support, enabling them to serve a broader range of OEM and end-user customers with comprehensive filtration, fluid power, flow control, rotating equipment, and inventory management services.
Here’s what you can expect:
Reach out to schedule a consultation.