SAFEXPERT® da GEA

CASE 1 –Solving unknown causes of product recall and production losses.

GEA Solution:

1. Performance audit: Identify the major contamination areas and diagnose the root cause of contamination with ‘mapping life flora’ and ‘process mapping’.
2. Hygiene service: Restore plant initial hygiene conditions with cocktail treatment methods on the CIP system and open surface area. GEA recommend adjustment on current CIP and COP protocols.
3. Performance service: Establish adapted detection KPIs with QA team  to eliminate contamination risk before exceeding QC standard. Monthly preventive microbial and biofilm treatment.

Customer Gain:

• A deeper understanding of the production process, the weak spots: where and why.
• A drastic reduction in the incidence of non-compliant products.
• 100% contamination-controlled equipment with specific preventive maintenance actions
• Restore 11% of total production, equal to 6.8M EUR/year.
• Significant reduction in use of hot water and detergents.

CASE 2 – Remove the odor and modify the texture to increase the quality of the end product.

GEA Solution:

1. Performance audit: Review customer QC process and perform ‘process mapping’ together with the production team to diagnose the root cause of end-product quality change.
2. Hygiene service: Modify current batch culture condition, storage time and adjust CIP protocol. Optimize QC sampling and measurement methods of incoming raw milk.
3. Performance service: Establish a specific weekly QC system for the fermentation process.

Customer Gain:

• Great learning of the production process, the critical steps of production: why and how.
• Superior raw material quality, more than 99% passed the stress test.
• A consumer satisfied end-product with good appearance, texture and flavor.

CASE 3 – Reduce water consumption with efficient hygiene and production.

GEA Solution:

1. Performance audit: Identify water wastage and bottleneck areas on process lines.
2. Process service: Adjust and improve the cleaning system and re-design the CIP system to improve mechanical action during cleaning. Introduce RO (Reverse Osmosis) to recover water from whey.
3. Performance service: Implement additional sensors to manage the control system. Implement Water Pinch methods on control areas and a new process to recover wastewater.

Customer Gain:

• Reduced water consumption by 6% which represents 95KEUR/year.
• Established an alternative water supply system generated from whey that can provide nearly 35% of the plant’s required production water.

CASE 1 – Find the root cause of unknown white slimy sediment in the product.

GEA Solution:

1. Performance audit:Troubleshoot the source of contamination by analyzing raw material quality, processing water quality, and performing a hygiene inspection on processing equipment and valves.
2. Process service:Modify existing CIP programme for both filtration system and process line and replace all valve gaskets.
3. Performance service: Benchmark system hygienic performance KPIs and establish a periodic preventive maintenance plan with GEA service.

Customer Gain:

• Saved 2M EUR on product loss, prevented further product recall. Rescued the company brand credibility and retained its consumer loyalty.
• Updated QC KPIs for better product monitoring, significantly limited the risk of contamination and fully controlled process hygiene.

CASE 1 – Control contamination of Listeria in the plant to avoid consumer complaints and extend product shelf life.

GEA Solution:

1. Performance audit:Diagnose the root cause of the contamination, microbial distribution scan and metagenetic analysis were performed to identify contaminated surface area.
2. Hygiene service:5-day microbial treatment with GEA recommend cleaning program and bioactive detergent. Aging tests done before and after treatment to confirm shelf life extension.
3. Performance service:Quarterly microbial treatment and performance audit at production area and storage room.

Customer Gain:

• A deeper undersetting of the operation process, the sources of contamination: what and how.
• Clear microbiological trend showing full control of plant contamination
• Extend shelf life after treatment, from 7 days to 9 days.

CASE 1 – Find unknown source of contamination in OSD from line to re-establish production.

GEA Solution:

1. Performance Audit:Diagnose source of contamination with a surface inspection and metagenetic test to identify the organism.
2. Hygiene service:Treat the plant with a GEA-recommended sanitizer and bioactive detergents according to SOP-defined cleaning protocols. Perform swab test and analyze both wash and rinse water using GMP- and ATMP- approved methodologies.
3. Performance service:Results suggested that redesigning the process water system and optimizing the manual cleaning process would solve the problem.

Customer Gain:

• A clear understanding of the root cause, source and location of the contamination.
• A safe and robust process that operates in a controlled microbiological environment.
• Best practice guidelines to maintain optimum plant performance and control.
• Eliminate downtime production/OPEX losses of €230k/day.

CASE 2 – Find the origin and root cause of a P. glucanolyticus contamination in a liquid production line to re-establish operations.

GEA Solution:

1. Performance Audit:Identify the origin of the contamination by reviewing the installation design and the inspection process with a microbial assay and biofilm check.
2. Hygiene service: Treat the plant with a GEA-recommended sanitizer and bioactive detergents according to SOP-defined cleaning protocols. Perform swab test and analyze both wash and rinse water using GMP- and ATMP- approved methodologies.
3. Performance service:Results suggested that upgrading the membrane filtration system and optimizing the SIP/SOP cleaning process would solve the problem.

Customer Gain:

• A clear understanding of the root cause, source and location of the contamination.
• A safe and robust process that operates in a controlled microbiological environment.
• Best practice guidelines to maintain optimum plant performance and control.
• Eliminate downtime production/OPEX losses and reboot sales.