5 Questions with Ty Patritto, Nelson-Jameson

1. What role does preventative maintenance play in optimizing a sanitation and hygiene program?

Sanitary, hygienic equipment is built to a standard that ensures its cleanliness; however, there are components that wear and, if not replaced in time, cause more than just unplanned downtime. Rubber components, for example, can create foreign material contamination as they degrade past the point of maintaining their structural integrity and break down. This also has the potential to cause microbial contamination due to rubber degradation. As they say, “Plan your maintenance, or it will plan you.”

2. How can an organization effectively measure the ROI of its sanitation and hygiene initiatives?

A simple measure of ROI is measuring the cost of a recall. Whether voluntary or not, that cost is immense, not just in brand recognition, but legal fees and manufacturing costs. Many organizations use a CMMS to track KPIs such as unplanned downtime and planned maintenance activities. Some numbers are eye-opening when looking at a given asset in a facility and finding out it only runs at 50% efficiency based on a lack of preventive maintenance.

3. What emerging tech and trends are enhancing sanitation and hygiene practices?

The main emerging trends are cloud-based software monitoring for processes like cleaning in place and pasteurization. These technologies allow those in important roles in production facilities to keep an eye on critical processes, whether local or at a remote location. The larger impact that can be seen is being able to identify abnormalities in the process quicker via trend information on a given software.

4. How can organizations ensure effective training and foster a strong food safety culture?

Redundancy is key. The assets in any facility all require some level of preventive maintenance and have intervals where minor and/or major service is recommended. Build a repeatable checklist of servicing assets or organizing a sanitation cart with color-coding for certain areas of a facility. And having staff at the same level of awareness of how to sanitize an area or service a piece of equipment is crucial.

5. What are the key considerations when selecting suppliers and partners?

A few key considerations come to mind. First, are they relationship-centric and provide technical knowledge regarding the items being supplied? Other practices like after-sales support, suggested reordering and inventory optimization practices should all be part of the delivery package when selecting supplier partners in a manufacturing facility. It also provides immense value with technical knowledge to reinforce when equipment or sanitation practices are in need of change.