Optimizing the manufacturing “clean-in-place” processes can result in big savings and help ensure food safety

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At the heart of every food or beverage plant is a clean-in-place (CIP) system: the big “washing machine” that cleans and sanitizes every piece of equipment at regular intervals. The CIP process is critical, since people consume the end products of this industry.

In my experience, most food and beverage plant managers believe that their CIP systems are working, and if there are any cleanliness concerns, they may rerun the cleaning program, just to make sure. That’s double the time, water, chemicals, and energy.

New innovations in CIP technology, however, allow manufacturers to reduce cleaning time and cut costs in a safe, earth-friendly manner while actually improving results: A 20% reduction in cleaning time, for instance, will deliver approximately an extra hour of production time.

While plant managers may make incremental changes such as modifying chemicals or reconfiguring settings for better efficiency, by far the best approach is to audit the whole system and optimize all aspects of it: from instrumentation, pipe work design and chemical mix through the automation controls and software.

My colleague Benjamin Jude and I recently co-authored a white paper on CIP optimization that examines the challenges facing food and beverage manufacturers, why they should consider optimizing their CIP, and what steps they can take to go about it – from fixing leaks and installing energy-efficient pumps to incorporating automation software that will report the outcomes of each and every clean cycle.

This approach follows the three key pillars of a successful CIP process:

• Efficient and effective design: Switching to smaller, decentralized or multiuse CIP systems reduces the amount of energy needed to deliver chemicals and also saves water and time.
• Energy efficiency: Improving outdated equipment components and modifying wasteful processes can save up to 30% on energy costs.
• Automation optimization: Automation improves the quality of available CIP system information and allows for better control of the equipment through alarms, notifications and status dashboards.

Incorporating these key pillars will have a positive impact on energy costs and profitability, as well as promoting peace of mind with a cleaning process that’s optimized for supporting food and beverage safety.

For details and examples, read the white paper,” How to Optimize Clean-in-Place (CIP) Processes in Food and Beverage Operations”.