Maintaining a clean manufacturing environment is imperative for industries such as food and pharma for the following reasons:
In highly regulated industries, hygienic systems and processing areas can be adversely affected by a single contaminated product. This can lead to costly recalls, a damaged reputation and ultimately harm to customers.
Properly designed equipment, however, can help mitigate these risks and ensure a clean manufacturing environment. Understand the key principles of hygienic design and discover practical cleaning tips with our free Hygienic Guide.
Why hygienic environments matter
Product Safety
Both the food and pharma industries produce products that are ingested or applied to the body. A contaminated product can cause harm to the consumer, leading to health issues, recalls, and potential lawsuits.
Compliance
Regulations in both industries require manufacturers to maintain a hygienic environment and follow specific guidelines to ensure product safety and quality. Non-compliance can lead to fines, legal action, and potential shutdown of the manufacturing facility.
Reputation
Contaminated products can also damage the reputation of a company, leading to a loss of trust and decreased sales. It's difficult to recover from a major recallor publicized contamination incident.
Consumer Demand
In today's world, consumers are more aware of the products they consume and their safety. A company that shows its commitment to product safety and quality through hygienic design can differentiate itself in the market and attract more customers.
Overall, ensuring a hygienic environment throughout your manufacturing facility is critical for protecting consumers, safeguarding your reputation, complying with regulations, and winning business over your competition. To support you with this, our guide contains detailed recommendations for identifying, evaluating, and cleaning hygienic bench scales, floor scales, and weigh modules.
Regulatory requirements
With regard to equipment design and use, leading authorities such as the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) or the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) are very consistent in their Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidance. They state that equipment should be designed specifically for its intended use, prevent contamination of the manufactured products and facilitate easy cleaning.
The European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG) and the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF International) are the best-recognized international experts in the area of good design practices for sanitary equipment. Be sure to look for weighing equipment that is designed according to EHEDG guidelines and certified by NSF.
View the infographic for a brief summary of the key features to look for in order to comply with these requirements. Then, download the guide for a more detailed overview.
Materials to consider
The aim of hygienic design is to ensure that equipment is easy to clean, reducing the risk of contamination that can arise either from the equipment itself or from matter that is trapped inside. When choosing a piece of equipment, it’s important to strive for one that incorporates specific materials and surface types into its design.
A common material in the construction of hygienic equipment is stainless steel, with AISI 304 and 316 popular choices because they are resistant to corrosion and do not emit particles that could lead to product contamination.
Surface roughness is also critical to a good hygienic design. Although a surface may seem smooth, it actually may be quite rough and have deep valleys that can harbor bacteria and soils. It’s important to ensure all surfaces on hygienic equipment is smooth, which allows easier cleaning and minimizes the likelihood of soils remaining on the surface after a wash-down.
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Important equipment features
Features to look for in hygienically designed weighing equipment include…
- Easy-to-clean, mirror-polished and self-draining surfaces
- Hygienic washer design to enable tight seals and secure connections
- Sealed joint areas to avoid contaminants
- Complete load cell protection
- No exposed threads that can collect contaminants
- No metal-to-metal contact to avoid microorganism contamination
Ingress Protection (IP Rating)
The ingress protection rating classifies the protection level of electrical enclosures. The first digit indicates protection against the intrusion of solid objects and the second digit indicates protection against liquids.
