Achieving real productivity gains - addressing cleaning challenges with limited staff resources
Brexit and the pandemic have added a new level of stress to the food industry. Availability of workers is seriously challenging companies, driving staff costs higher and leaving vacancies unfilled. Meanwhile, the drive to maintain and improve cleaning standards is relentless. Food manufacturers cannot afford to cut corners and are turning to automation and solid industrial solutions.
KHD has over twenty years of experience developing cleaning applications for the food industry. KHD has targeted automating time-consuming tasks in food contact areas on production lines, with the aim of freeing-up staff to get on with other tasks.
Cleaning Solution For Confectionery Factory
Imagine standing alongside a 130m long by 1.5m wide flat conveyor belt covered in the remnants of the latest confectionery production run, with buckets and cloths. It is a daunting prospect but a simple reality. The work is tedious, time-consuming, and pressurised. Time is limited and quality matters. In this case, it would take two people a whole shift to clean just one belt to a visually acceptable standard. You can understand why staff may prefer to work in retail or logistics, where there are plenty of vacancies and competitive wages.
A KHD automated steam cleaning system cleans this same conveyor belt in just one hour. Not only is this fast, but the cleaning is to a consistent and higher standard than manual cleaning and can be proven by the customer using ATP testing. A simple portable system takes a couple of minutes to set up, leaving staff free to focus on other important cleaning tasks while the machine works away. The same equipment is easily moved between belts allowing multiple belts to be cleaned in a single shift. No chemicals are used and water use is minimal, typically 13-26 litres per hour, and the debris is captured in the vacuum. All the equipment is conveniently moved and stored on the purpose-designed trolley.
Cleaning Solution For Bread Factory
Imagine a 1km long by 1m wide mesh belt in a spiral conveyor, carrying baked goods such as burger buns. A dry environment must be maintained to avoid mould growth contaminating the product and spoiling shelf life. This is at the extreme in the bread industry, but belts on this scale are common and a real headache for cleaning. Cleaning typically involves manual jet washing and air drying, requiring cleaning staff, thousands of litres of hot water and sometimes chemicals, followed by a long drying time. An extended shut-down is required, and production time is lost. In many locations using water and chemicals is not possible and so manual brushing or alcohol sprays are deployed as a compromise. Some places remove sections of belts for jet washing off-line calling on expensive engineering resources to remove and refit belts.
KHD’s Jet System was designed for exactly this task and is in use across the world, saving manpower, water, chemicals and downtime. Taking just minutes to set up, the Jet System will work away in the background leaving staff free to carry out other important cleaning tasks. Dry debris falls to the floor and is easily removed at the end of the cycle. Higher standards of cleaning can also significantly extend conveyor belt life and help avoid technical problems.
Book A KHD Factory Cleaning Demonstration
If you are looking for true improvements in productivity and higher standards of cleaning, to free-up staff and create more attractive roles, then consider investing in proven industrial solutions.
KHD and carefully selected distributors overseas can easily demonstrate the potential on your own conveyor belt, showing you in a real-time test on your target belts that we can clean to a standard equal or better than you currently achieve. Apply your preferred quality test and see for yourself. Book a demonstration today.
