How to Improve Sanitation at Food Processing Plants While Lowering Costs

Specially engineered stainless steel motors also don’t have a need for paint that could flake into the food, hold in moisture, and hide corrosion. They are of “totally enclosed, not ventilated” (TENV) design, which means that they do not have a fan and fan cover, both of which are difficult to clean and could be breeding spaces for bacteria. For example, replacing all painted, standard motors on a plant’s conveyor belts—particularly in the processing area—with 2-HP stainless encapsulated motors allows for far greater reliability, particularly in the extreme conditions of a food processing plant.

According to a 2018 article in IndustryWeek, while electricity is the largest energy cost for most food and beverage plants, it also offers the greatest opportunities for savings and can deliver the fastest payback. Electric motors used in production facilities with conveyors are almost always on, driving the energy bill higher. The typical industrial plant can reduce its electricity use by around five to 15 percent by simply improving the efficiency of its motor-driven systems. Committing to running a more energy-efficient food manufacturing plant takes work, but the payoffs are well worth the energy, time, and money that are put into it. Manufacturing facilities in the U.S. spend $200 billion annually to power facilities, yet, by not implementing good energy management processes, the same companies waste nearly 30 percent of that energy. High-efficiency washdown motors reduce energy costs, improve plant efficiency and load factor, and lessen maintenance costs.

Upgrade Incentives

Many states have created monetary rebate programs qualifying food processing plants for upgrades. Following are just a few examples:

The Wisconsin Food Processing Plant and Food Warehouse Investment Credit is a refundable tax credit for businesses that have invested to modernize or expand food processing plants or food warehouses in Wisconsin and who have been certified by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. Tax credits are earned by incurring eligible expenses for modernization or expansion of a food processing plant or food warehouse. This includes constructing, improving, or acquiring buildings or facilities, or acquiring equipment for food processing or food warehousing.

Wisconsin also has the Meat Processing Facility Investment Credit program to support the modernization of the state’s meat processing industry. The tax credits build on the success of the state’s dairy modernization and investment tax programs. The program provides a tax credit for up to 10 percent of the costs meat processors invest in modernization or expansion. Eligible expenditures include construction, additions, utility upgrades, equipment, and technology.

Because the food processing industry is one of the largest energy users in California, the state established the Food Production Investment Program, which encourages California food producers to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The program’s initial budget in 2018 provided up to $57 million to help accelerate the adoption of advanced energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

The Food Production Investment Program helps producers replace high-energy-consuming equipment and systems with market-ready and advanced technologies and equipment. The program also accelerates the adoption of state-of-the-art energy technologies that can substantially reduce energy use and costs and associated GHG emissions.

Iowa’s MidAmerican Energy Advantage program realizes that a key barrier to strategic energy management for food processing companies can be the financial costs. MidAmerican Energy provides rebates for high-efficiency motors to help commercial, industrial, and agricultural businesses with energy and bill savings.

Through the installation of energy-efficient washdown motors, food processing plants can move from a reactive to a more controlled, predictive maintenance approach and help improve sanitation, extend machine life, and reduce operating costs.

Calloway is the product manager for the commercial distribution business segment of Regal Beloit Corporation based in Beloit, Wis. Reach him at [email protected].