Large and small food manufacturers are updating existing facilities with new processing equipment, automation technology, and modern drainage solutions. FoodSafe Drains has introduced RENEW, services that deliver turnkey solutions for facility updates, replacements, or consulting on new approaches to food safety.
Food and beverage manufacturers understand cycles. Brands are currently expanding and optimizing existing plant facilities to increase product volume and drive product innovation. Corporate VPs envision plant upgrades as a way to hedge against any current economic uncertainty while modernizing plants to enable complete digital operations and AI strategies.
FoodSafe Drains (FSD) has been driving modern drainage solutions for years to food and beverage brands, thanks to its laser focus on continuous improvement in food safety on the plant floor. “Staying with the status quo in food plants is a recipe for food safety issues,” says Viking Kristjansson, VP of Sales Engineering at FoodSafe Drains. “Modern, food-safe drainage systems are transforming facilities by enhancing safety, hygiene, and efficiency.”
To enable updated food safety protocols, FoodSafe Drains now offers RENEW, which delivers turnkey solutions to food manufacturers to address legacy drainage issues. RENEW leads with FoodSafe Drains’ market-leading drain products and builds on the company’s years of experience leveraging trusted implementation partners in the contracting, architecture, and plant design, engineering, and drainage segments.
FoodSafe Drains collaborates with food and beverage companies by specifying trusted contractors to lead, replace, and install commercial drains and modern drainage solutions. Using the Alliance Partner Network, RENEW recommends a trusted partner as the main contractor and project manager to oversee legacy plant upgrades or retrofits.
Years of experience and relationships in the food industry have paved the way for the creation of FSD RENEW, according to Kristjansson. “The members of the Alliance Partner Network have implemented drainage solutions for decades, including pre-planning, procurement, and managing timelines for food and beverage manufacturers,” adds Kristjansson.
Find out how the Alliance Partner Network delivers new and legacy drainage solutions for food and beverage facilities.
High Difficulty, High Stakes
The stakes with food safety are getting higher, as brands have to navigate negative brand reputation with incidents. The price can be high, and food safety challenges are complex for legacy plants and older drainage designs. Below are some of the challenges for plant managers:
Over-Reliance on Trench Drains
Cleaning heavy trench drains is time-consuming, and these structures can erode over time due to heavy equipment and traffic, leading to structural defects and hazards. Moreover, trench drains have a higher risk of contamination and can trap bacteria more than slot drain systems.
Workforce Culture and Training
Replacing legacy drainage systems is an excellent step for brands, but instilling a food-safety-first culture goes a long way toward reducing food safety incidents. A modern sanitation installation aids plant managers in re-focusing maintenance personnel on new tools and the ability to update cleaning standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Lack of Visibility
A lack of qualified sanitation designers led to widespread use of area drains in legacy plants. Area drains make cleaning easier, but they create a lack of visibility into food safety for personnel. In addition, overuse of area drains leads to floor degradation due to improper sloping.
Evaluation from Experienced Experts
Finding the right design is essential in today’s food plant, and installing a range of flooring drainage types is the right approach. Drainage types for food and beverage processing plants include area drains, grated drains (high–water–volume applications), and slot drains. FoodSafe Drains holds the patent on the modern slot drain, which delivers effortless cleaning and withstands heavy forklift traffic while providing a grate-free design. Systems also include integration into clean-in-place (CIP) technology.
FoodSafe Drain’s RENEW offers a range of local contracting solutions, including drain evaluation services, piping modifications, mechanical, plumbing, specialty, flooring scopes of work, new floor designs, drain recommendations, and more. These turnkey solutions leverage the Alliance Partner Network and its decades of experience in serving the food and beverage industry.
RENEW recently upgraded a modern food processing plant using the Alliance Partner Network. “Our turnkey solution and trusted partners evaluate facilities and create solutions based on the food facility’s processes,” adds Kristjansson. “Due to the abundance of equipment and daily changeovers, it was hard for personnel to clean and monitor contamination sources.”
A whole building approach and evaluation process are essential for legacy facilities. This plant facility upgrade included updating underground piping and removing 30% of the current infrastructure, while eliminating 171 P-Traps and 684 fewer floor slopes, according to Kristjansson.
Another essential component for busy plant managers is having one leading project manager for upgrades. Our Alliance Partner Network includes EPC firms, architects and designers, general contractors, and experienced project managers with general and specialized disciplines. A project manager continuously works with plant managers during an upgrade, but the heavy lifting, like requests for information (RFI), front-end planning (FEP), and timeline management, is done by the lead contractor.
“Timelines do change with shutdown projects, but experienced general contractors know how to manage multiple moving parts and work with plant managers,” adds Kristjansson.
Talk to experts on RENEW about turnkey drainage solutions and how they increase food safety at legacy food and beverage processing facilities.
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