Modern Trends in CIP Automation

This is another way a modern automation system can squeeze more capacity out of your processing equipment. Optimizing your production run sequence by minimizing intervening cleaning operations allows for maximum production time on a given line. It can do this while monitoring these operations to mitigate the risk of ingredient cross-contamination between runs.

Big Data to the Rescue

The plummeting cost of information storage is enabling options in automation systems that did not exist even a few years ago. Modern systems will often utilize massive networked storage arrays to historize everything in a facility. This can entail recording from moment to moment every measurement, every device state, every automated operation, and every operator interaction on every terminal throughout the facility. While such data fingerprints can be critical to effective troubleshooting when something goes wrong, it can also be of great value for use in plant optimizations.

Big data can give a view of how your equipment is operating over an extended period of time. CIP operations of all types are logged in detail for each piece of processing equipment, every time the operation is performed. On a step-by-step basis, all of the details can be recorded, including the duration of each step; the amount and type of detergents and sanitizers utilized; energy consumption; and any other item of interest. These recorded step values are also aggregated across the entire cleaning operation. Looking at how this data changes over time can give insight into the operation of the equipment that might otherwise be difficult to see.

Linear regression analysis plots the best straight line through a series of data points. For example each data point might represent the total cleaning time for a given piece of processing equipment at a specific point in time. When analyzed over an extended period of time, trends concerning the effectiveness of these cleaning operations can emerge. If the linear regression line is rising, this indicates that the cleaning process is slipping out of control and in need of improvements. If the line is flat, the process is stable over time, although a large amount of high and low outlier values could indicate potential for improvements. If the line is falling over time, the efficiency of the process is improving.

This type of analysis could be useful in other ways. A data point could represent the aggregated total cleaning time for all processing equipment on a given day. How this changes over time can indicate the CIP effectiveness and impact on equipment availability across the entire production facility. Narrower views could be applied to specific processing areas or production lines. On the cost side, similar looks at chemical usage, energy consumption, and more is easily provided once the measured data is in place. In these examples rising regression lines indicate opportunity for increased capacity or cost reduction, falling lines indicate improvements.

Linear regression analysis is a great tool to stay ahead of any issues before they become real problems. It can also provide verification that your process improvement strategies are working as intended. In addition to CIP optimizations, this type of analysis could be applied across a wide spectrum of production operations.

The Modern CIP Approach

A modern automation system will unite your production operations with your cleaning operations to make them work together at peak performance. Cleaning recipes are developed based on product type, which adjust automatically for equipment particulars, to provide the most effective cleaning regimens for your process equipment. The upfront time developing these CIP recipes will pay dividends for years to come.

By managing the cleaning requirements between varying product types, modern systems will provide tools to simplify the increasingly difficult task of developing efficient production schedules. They can do this while monitoring actual production operations to mitigate the risk of ingredient cross-contamination. Finally, with the plummeting cost of mass storage, new and interesting analytical tools are now applied to CIP operations. When used properly they can yield greater efficiency and cost savings opportunities than ever before.