4 ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of cleaning and sanitation in food factories
In many food companies, production losses, supply chain conditions, and the number of laborers are the focus of production managers,
factory supervisors, and operation managers, while cleaning and sanitation are relatively secondary, but incorrect cleaning and sanitation
will affect food safety and production efficiency. Therefore, enterprise managers often fall into the contradiction between ensuring the
cleaning and sanitation cycle and reducing downtime. WONE will introduce you to the relevant content for your reference today.
Management guru Peter Drucker once said that efficiency is doing the job right, and effectiveness is doing the right job. This is a motto that
is still correct and effective today. When it is magnified to the consideration of cleaning and sanitation, the balance between efficiency and
effectiveness is even closer.
Let's take an example to explain the efficiency and effectiveness of the two, an employee can quickly clean the production line, but
allergens and pathogenic microorganisms are left behind, which threatens the health of consumers, leading to government inspections and
a decline in the company's reputation. On the contrary, a cleaning and sanitation team may clean the production line efficiently without any
residue, but it will delay valuable production time.
First, we must first clarify the relationship between cleaning sanitation and effectiveness:
- If hygiene management is proper, there is a higher possibility of producing safe and high-quality products, more production time, and lower inventory;
- If hygiene management is not done properly, there are risks. Reducing production time is secondary, and more importantly, it may endanger the health of consumers and cause more serious consequences;
- Therefore, we should consider how to achieve a balance between safety and speed through effective cleaning sanitation management, and then achieve the best results.
- 01- The number of employees and the relative tasks;
- 02- The cleaning when task changes occur;
- 03- Specific production steps;
- 04- Order by task intensity;
- 05- Maintenance plan.
- 01- Fully consider the effects to be achieved and use checklists
- 02- Before the end of production, call relevant personnel to familiarize themselves with the work plan, responsibilities, and requirements.
- 03- Develop and use a comprehensive pre-cleaning checklist.
- 04- Confirm the tools, carts, items, personal protective equipment, and plastic partitions required for the operation phase of the cleaning task.
- 05- Remove items from the previous cleaning phase.
- 06- Before cleaning begins (or during the two cleaning phases), the cleaning and sanitation team should clean related equipment that is not currently in use, as well as accessories that can be quickly replaced.
After understanding the matters that need to be paid attention to before cleaning and sanitation, let's take a look at what the seven steps of the conventional cleaning and sanitation process mainly include:
01
Dry cleaning
Once the production lines are stopped, dry cleaning and disassembly of the equipment are required. After cleaning, the equipment should
be nearly completely clean to avoid rework; remember that the more water is used, the more chaotic the cleaning scene will be.
- 01- Empty the waste bin;
- 02- In the process of wiping and cleaning, sensitive electronic equipment such as computer panels, optical lenses and motors should be covered;
- 03- Sweep the floor and clean the walls to keep them clean;
- 04- Scrape off the caked foreign matter with a plastic tool;
- 05- Use an air spray gun to blow loose foreign matter from top to bottom;
- 06- Sweep the floor completely and thoroughly for the second time;
- 07- Wipe off the dirt with a dry rag; Take the external cleaning parts to the cleaning room, and ensure the priority of the cleaning parts based on comprehensive analysis;
- 08- Only when the equipment is cleaned to 90% clean, start the first rinsing.
02
First rinsing
The purpose of the first rinse is to remove the remaining fat, sugar and protein.
- 01- The operator should wear gloves when using hot water.
- 02- Use hot water to rinse for 10 minutes to make the remaining fat, sugar, and protein easier to remove.
03
Use detergent and wipe
The purpose of this step is to remove the remaining 10% of dirt. First, use bubbles to allow the detergent to penetrate into the remaining
food dirt.
- 01- When scrubbing, use a clean food-grade brush and rag.
- 02- Cleaning detergents are not disinfectants and must be physically wiped (high-pressure water spray cannot replace it) to activate the cleaner and remove dirt.
04
Second rinse and operator inspection
- 01- Be very careful when using hot water and separate the hot water bucket from the tools.
- 02- The operator checks the equipment with a flashlight to verify the cleanliness.
- 03- Effective rinsing and wiping can save a lot of sanitation and cleaning time.
05
Drying and installation
According to SSOP regulations, product, equipment, and application requirements, some equipment needs to be dried and installed before inspection.
- 01- Evaluate SSOPs to ensure the correct sequence of steps.
- 02- Use only lint-free towels or let the equipment dry naturally.
- 03- The maintenance department should cooperate with the sanitation operator.
06
Pre-operation inspection
At the beginning of the pre-operation inspection, the entire area (including the floor) should have been cleaned.
- 01- The inspector (from quality control, supervision department, etc.) uses a flashlight to check under the belt, inside the roller, all baffles, etc.
- 02- The key inspection points should be clearly stated in the verification document.
- 03- During the inspection process, the equipment operator must be accompanied and solve any problems found at any time. It is also a good opportunity for retraining the operator to standardize cleaning techniques and find potential problems in time.
07
SanitationAfter the inspection, the operator can spray sanitation.
- 01- The sanitation should cover all equipment including all conveyor belts.
- 02- The type and use of disinfectants should follow the equipment instructions (to prevent possible corrosion of belts or bearings).
- 03- Various types of chemical disinfectants are circulated regularly to prevent pathogens from developing drug resistance.
- 01- Training of operator techniques and concepts;
- 02- Documentation of each step;
- 03- Setting requirements to be achieved;
- 04- Strengthening time management;
- 05- Guidance, retraining, and repetition.
In addition to paying attention to the correct cleaning and sanitation, food plant managers can also use some advanced management
concepts to reduce time waste, reasonably shorten the cleaning and sanitation cycle, and achieve the purpose of improving the efficiency of cleaning and sanitation. We can identify and eliminate unreasonable behaviors in cleaning and sanitation through the "seven wastes" often mentioned in operation management.
01
Transportation
- 01- Including the transportation of tools, carts, towels, water, and garbage.
- 02- Assign a special person to deliver tools and clean water to the operator and remove the garbage cleaned out.
- 03- Assign personnel to collect information on the progress of sanitation and cleaning, and report the results to the supervisor regularly, so that managers can understand the progress and situation of the work in a short time.
02
Inventory
- 01- Including chemicals, towels, disposable supplies, 5S, and items cleaned up during quick line shift.
- 02- Small parts are placed together.
- 03- Accessories recovered from the same equipment are placed in the same place.
03
Action
- 01- Including operators looking for tools, materials, hot water or air outlets that are not close to the production line, and internal cleaning.
- 02- Appoint a special person to deliver items to the operator to reduce unnecessary movement of the operator.
- 03- When the cleaning staff is on break, someone can be assigned to handle dirty water, clean rags, and other utensils, and when the operator's break is over, the tools are clean again.
04
Waiting
- 01- Including poor coordination between cleaning staff and equipment maintenance department.
- 01- When all parts work together, the production line will not be waiting for inspectors to check.
- 03- If the operator has to wait for assembly or disassembly, he can be temporarily arranged to cooperate with other important work.
05
Overprocessing
- 01- Including using the wrong tools, poor handover, and unnecessary cleaning of equipment.
- 02- If the floor is not cleaned properly, the operator may waste more time cleaning the dirt that has become wet or sticky,
- 03- Including inadequate wiping, which will lead to rework: try to do it right the first time.
06
Overproduction
- 1. Including using excessive chemicals, water, or disinfectants.
- 2. Excessive cleaning: If the production is properly arranged, some cleaning and sanitation processes can be avoided. For example, a large number of allergen products are produced in the middle instead of at the end of the production schedule, so there must be 2 times of sanitation and cleaning.
07
Defective products
- 01- Including improper wiping, re-cleaning, and the consequences of delayed production.
- 02- Evaluate the non-conformity and confirm whether the non-conformity is accidental or systematic.
- 03- Develop a triggered root cause analysis. For example, if a certain reason causes a delay of more than 30 minutes, the operator immediately reports to the supervisor, and the supervisor or the corresponding team immediately investigates and finds out the root cause of the delay.
- 04- Form a good cleaning and sanitation review procedure, focusing on the defects of cleaning and sanitation that occur every month.
Improving the efficiency of cleaning and sanitation cannot be achieved in a day or a week, but it will be a transformative investment. This
requires managers to pay more attention to the value of operators participating in developing programs and implementing new plans. Give
full play to the spirit of ownership of employees and make continuous improvements.
For more information about food factory hygiene cleaning and sanitation, including personnel hygiene, open plant hygiene, and air hygiene,
please contact us!
