Cleaning production facilities: centralised or decentralised?

Cleaning production facilities centralised or decentralised

If you’re a producer or processor of food products, then you're obliged to clean your production area(s) on a daily basis. A foam cleaning system allows you to remove grease and dirt residues from production areas. You may or may not choose to use a disinfectant, depending on the activities that take place in the room. If you want to buy a cleaning system, you can choose between a centralised or a decentralised system. Elpress can advise you on this.

Centralised versus decentralised cleaning

In the case of centralised cleaning, there is a central location within the building where the cleaning agent - or ‘chemical’ - is stored and where a foam and/or disinfection unit is installed. Water and cleaning agents are transported to the production areas via a network of pipes using a pressure boosting system. In the production area, you can choose between rinsing, foaming or disinfecting in the off-take stations, called satellites. A centralised cleaning system is a closed system. This eliminates the need for separate chemical canisters in the production area.

In the case of decentralised cleaning, the jerry cans containing the chemical are stored on the shop floor. With this system, the chemical is added to the water in the production area itself. The room is cleaned by means of a pressure boosting connection.

Advantages of centralised cleaning

Good advice is essential if you want to purchase a cleaning system. You’re going to opt for a centralised or decentralised system - it’s a critical choice that requires you to consider various aspects. A centralised cleaning system generally requires a higher investment, but has many advantages:

  • Increased safety: no concentrated chemicals on the shop floor.
  • More efficient chemical consumption: the concentration of detergent in the pipes is more constant and coordinated exactly to the required quantity. So you never use too much.
  • Safer working: there is no need to carry jerry cans and no chemical residues are thrown away.
  • You pay less environmental tax: decentralised jerry cans on the shop floor mean more chemical waste and therefore higher waste costs.

Still prefer decentralised?

Despite the many advantages, opting for a centralised cleaning system is certainly not a foregone conclusion. Maybe you simply don’t have the budget for it. Or because it’s difficult to install a centralised system in your (existing) building because there is no central space for it or because a proper network of pipes can’t be laid. Each situation is unique and requires appropriate advice.

More information

Are you looking to purchase a cleaning system? Then let us give you some good advice. Would you like to know more about the factors that matter when purchasing a cleaning system? Then download the white paper ‘The right choice for a cleaning system or crate washer’.

Whitepaper: the right choice for a cleaning system or crate washer

More information

Wout Spanjers