The business case for automating plant sanitation has always included soft savings, though the value of extending production runs between sanitation shifts is appreciated by food and beverage processors. But even the soft dollars are acquiring a harder edge as customers and regulators increase pressure for documentation that the soil removal and equipment sterilization steps that are supposed to be done do, in fact, occur.
Clean-in-place (CIP) systems continue to spread beyond the dairy and brewery sectors, with meat and poultry processors and soft-drink bottlers actively looking for ways to transfer CIP concepts to their own operations. The need to control pathogens, allergens and other sources of cross contamination has increased interest in automated systems. Automation also provides an opportunity for data collection to validate procedures and optimize the use of cleaning and sanitizing chemicals. "The cost of cleaning chemicals is a major issue for food processors," points out Steve Cook, food engineering manager at Central States Industrial (CSI), a designer and fabricator of stainless-steel piping systems.