Optimization of CIP cycles can save more than two million liters of water per year
The new Kiilto ProCIP® digital service uses researched data to optimize the consumption of water, chemicals, energy and time used in circular cleaning in food industry. The savings achieved are easy to verify.
Equipment used in food industry are cleaned regularly, as their hygiene must meet very high quality standards. The CIP or Clean-in-Place cycles are one of the largest automatic cleaning processes in the production facilities. Kiilto's Development Manager Pekka Sinisalo reminds that one CIP cycle can include, for example, initial rinsing, alkaline washing, intermediate rinsing, acid washing, final rinsing and sterilization.
“The price of one wash is about 20 euros. Annual washing volumes vary from 30,000 to 60,000 washes, depending on the plant. ”
The impact on profitability is significant. For example, based on estimates up to 80 percent of the total production costs in dairies is related to hygiene maintenance of equipment and pipe lines.
“Of course, hygiene cannot be compromised. However, the use of water, energy and chemicals as well as cleaning time can be optimized without compromising quality. Sometimes even small adjustments can turn into large savings, ” Sinisalo emphasizes.
In cooperation with customers
For decades, Kiilto has been helping customers in food industry to optimize their processes related to hygiene maintenance. A couple of years ago, Kiilto began to develop a solution for an optimization service, which would combine in-house expertise, anomaly detection and monitoring of cleaning.
“The key idea was to create a system where we can remotely monitor the cleaning process, and the impact of the measures taken could always be clearly demonstrated. The aim was also that all decisions would be based on examined data collected from the facilities. ”
The development work was also supported by customers.
“We surveyed the wishes and needs of customers. They also were looking for more detailed information on the benefits of optimization measures and more transparency in the processes. ”
Proposals for action by analyzing data
The development work is now complete. Kiilto ProCIP® is a solution that combines information collected from the customer's process automation, its analysis and Kiilto's expertise. It ensures that CIP processes are consistent with operational objectives as well as quality requirements.
"Our experts help to analyze the data collected from the factory, identify optimization opportunities and modernize cleaning processes accordingly."
The software used in the service also calculates how the measures affect hygiene-related costs.
“Continuous monitoring helps to ensure the uniformity of CIP cleaning cycles, and that way it is possible to avoid both over- and under-washing. Each CIP cycle comes with accurate reports and statistics. ”
The service also frees personnel at the facilities from unnecessary data collection and problem identification, saving work hours.
Less is more
Sinisalo estimates that with Kiilto ProCIP®, cost savings of up to tens of percent can be achieved in the food industry. For example, in one customer site, the optimization service helped to significantly reduce water consumption, saving two million liters of water in less than a year. The new optimization service also has other benefits.
“When less water, energy, chemicals and time can be used for CIP, it also serves Kiilto's and the customer's environmental goals,” Pekka Sinisalo emphasizes.
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