Exploring the Secrets of CIP

Over 12 months, the Kemps fresh milk plant, Rochester, Minn., using Ecolab’s 3D TRASAR for CIP Technology, reported improvements in the following:

• Product quality as monthly variability in percent passing decreased by 55 percent from 2013 to 2014 and average percent passing end of code increased by 1.1 percent from 2013 to 2014;
• 1,295 hours of cleaning time saved;
• 963,750 gallons of water used for cleaning conserved;
• 1215 kWh electricity saved and 1,847 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions avoided (Calculated from www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html); and
• 3,000 gallons of CIP chemical usage reduced.

Over three months of 24/7 CIP monitoring, another large beverage producer found a flow imbalance during the cleaning of its fillers. After making needed improvements identified by monitoring one line, the plant reported annualized efficiency benefits, including:

• 200 hours reduced cleaning time;
• 875,000 gallons reduced water consumption for cleaning;
• $8,000 cost avoidance through reduced pump and valve maintenance; and
• $369,000 total estimated benefit gained from identifying problems with 24/7 monitoring.

In addition, over a three-month period in which just 20 percent of its CIP activity was monitored, a large food producer identified opportunities to realize savings valued at $230,000. More important, round-the-clock monitoring found ineffective sanitizing methods occurring at a rate that could have negatively impacted the quality of approximately 1,800 production batches each year.

What to Expect of Automated CIP Monitoring

Automated CIP monitoring systems should answer three simple questions: 1) Did you clean everything you were supposed to clean? 2) Did you clean everything the way it was supposed to be cleaned? 3) Did you clean optimally?

If the technology can’t respond with clear answers, it’s probably not for lack of data. Rather it’s likely due to the system’s inability to distill the data to a level that is useful. Too much information with too little interpretation is more frustrating than no information at all.

To assure that “yes” is the answer to the three questions day after day, a three-phase approach is recommended once an automated monitoring system is installed.

• Standardize. During this phase, the aim is to make needed adjustments to CIP protocols to achieve at least 90 percent of washes done correctly (as mentioned before, the best Ecolab has seen is 60 to 70 percent). Creating consistency around CIP operations has an immediate, tangible impact on quality while also improving efficiency. Once washes are standardized to perform correctly and consistently, it’s time for Phase 2.
• Optimize. In this phase, the goal is to identify savings opportunities to further optimize washes. Ultimately, the focus should be to drive wash conformance rate upward to 100 percent.
• Sustain. With CIP, many things can, and do, change as wash recipes are added and adjusted. Automated CIP monitoring should be an ongoing and well integrated component of operations to ensure sustained wash conformance—as well as consistent product quality and safety for the long term. Continuous monitoring also enables organizational learning as it yields insights and best practices that can be shared.

Of course, easy access to the results of 24/7 CIP monitoring is essential. Advanced systems feature online dashboards with scheduled and exception-based reporting, as well as access to comparative analysis (historical, relative, and best-case). They use phone, email, and text to alert you—and your service and support teams—to the need for action when immediate problems arise.

Having CIP performance data at your fingertips provides another important benefit: It helps you prepare for compliance with the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA). FSMA requires extensive documentation and recordkeeping related to QA and control processes. Companies that cannot readily produce the required documentation could face inspections, fines, and even recalls. CIP monitoring reports will help avoid these and other regulatory pitfalls.

Constant Assurance

CIP has long been a tight-lipped introvert. But with automated CIP monitoring systems, it’s becoming a babbling extrovert, pointing to problems that need quick action and suggesting opportunities to improve metrics or avoid catastrophe.