AI takes Clean-In-Place to the next level

Global consumer package goods (CPG) plant managers face the same daily pressures to maintain high product quality, food safety, and regulatory compliance–and it starts with challenges seen at the cleaning level:

• Inefficient cleaning processes
• Overconsumption of resources (water, energy, etc.)
• Limited data visibility
• Labor-intensive analysis

Each minute of cleaning is a minute of lost production capacity. This is the Clean-in-Place (CIP) balancing act.

Industries requiring strict hygienic manufacturing methods utilize CIP systems that follow sequential processes to automate the cleaning and disinfection of internal equipment (e.g., pipes, tanks, and valves) without disassembly.

While these processes are essential for food safety, plant managers often describe traditional CIP methods as “black boxes” – they are aware that water and chemicals go in, clean equipment comes out, but what happens in between isn’t visible.

The lack of operational insights and data visibility often leads to prolonged cleaning times and high consumption of water, chemicals, and energy, challenges that make compliance more difficult.

To support product and employee safety, regulatory compliance, and efficiency, CIP systems often continuously monitor values for five key processing variables:

• Temperature: Monitoring the temperature of cleaning agents
• Turbulence: Maintaining cleaning agent flow speed for hydraulic “scrubbing”
• Turbidity: Ensuring spray device performance and flow quality
• Titration: Measuring the concentration of chemicals
• Time: Tracking duration of cleaning cycles

Building on this foundational process, the “Golden CIP” concept takes the process to an individualized level. Instead of relying on outdated and static industry cleaning guidelines, manufacturers now set their standards with the help of historical cleanings, a theoretical model based on quality parameters, or data from many successful cleanings.

This approach enables corrective actions, reduces water and chemical usage, shortens cleaning times, and schedules cleanings based on current energy consumption. The goal is to achieve optimal cleaning with minimal resource use, reducing production downtime and maximizing productive work time.

Think of a Golden CIP as your ideal cleaning cycle – establishing optimal cleaning parameters for your specific equipment and products while minimizing resources and time.

Modern CIP systems not only ensure adherence to strict hygienic and regulatory standards but also enhance overall operational efficiency, including reduced chemical and energy use, shorter cleaning times, and a lower environmental impact.

But what if this can be taken even further?

AI optimizes CIP operations by making the invisible visible

AI-powered CIP systems bridge gaps between resource efficiency and boosting production capacity. By integrating with existing CIP equipment, you can unlock precise and simultaneous monitoring and analysis of each aspect of the process (e.g., water temperature, flow rates, chemical concentrations, and water clarity).

AI supports operators in better managing daily CIP tasks by providing decision and operational guidance. This approach accelerates operator onboarding, improves knowledge transfer, and enhances workplace safety.

From an operational perspective, optimized CIP Systems provide value.

1. Costs: Reduces energy consumption and operational costs through real-time monitoring of chemical and utility usage patterns 
2. Process standardization: Establishes consistent SOPs for quality benchmarking and continuous improvement across facilities
3. Environmental impact: Minimizes resource consumption and CO₂ emissions through energy-efficient operations 
4. Operational excellence: Identifies process inefficiencies and enables systematic optimization using predictive analytics 
5. Minimized downtime: Accelerates equipment turnaround through automated cycle adjustments and predictive maintenance capabilities 
6. Full traceability: Provides comprehensive tracking, electronic documentation, and audit-ready reporting systems

While operators can only check readings periodically, AI provides real-time insights, detects deviations from your Golden CIP standard, and continuously learns patterns to help prevent issues before they occur. This operational data not only helps boost cleaning effectiveness and resource efficiency, but also allows operators to focus more on other goals instead of troubleshooting.

While the reduction in water, chemical, and energy usage creates clear financial benefits, the advantages go further. When cleaning cycles can be shortened by even 30 minutes per day, that can translate to two extra weeks of production capacity per line, per year, without adding equipment or staff.

AI optimization: Real-World CIP Wins

Improving production with innovative technology

As the world’s largest bottled water company, Nestlé Waters needed to improve traceability in batch production and continuously reduce cleaning processing time. Nestlé deployed our innovative and convenient CIP software to:

• Reduce CO₂ emissions by 50% in year one for specific lines
• Reduced CIP time by 20% for specific production lines
• Improve process tracking and diagnosis
• Significantly reduce traceability time 
• Improve maintenance through dedicated custom features

Multi-site CPG implementation

We have also implemented this optimization approach within the framework of the Golden CIP program for all our customers, including a global player with a dairy site in Vietnam.

Results achieved:

• Implementation of “Golden CIP” standards with data-driven recommendations
• Potential savings of $10,000+ per CIP line via water, chemical, and energy optimization
• Enhanced process visibility 

Take your CIP Process to the next level

You don’t need to buy entirely new equipment to improve your CIP processes. One key benefit of modern CIP optimization is that it enables you to enhance the performance of your current system by implementing software solutions that integrate seamlessly with your existing hardware setup.

Once you have baseline metrics, apply your Golden CIP standards and layer on AI monitoring for that circuit. The insights gained from your first AI optimization success can be applied across your facility and are a starting point for continuous process optimization. You can apply supporting KPIs to more accurately document and report on improvements in resource use, time, and quality.

The most successful implementations start with this question: Which cleaning circuit causes the most delays or uses the most resources?

This is the area where you’ll realize the ROI impact. AI-powered CIP helps you produce more with less. Your plant gets cleaner with less water, fewer chemicals, and in less time. Will you keep cleaning the old way or unlock new potential with AI? To learn more, watch our on-demand webinar.