Poultry processing plant cleaning: how to do it faster and better

IWC is an expert in the field of cleaning in poultry slaughterhouses. At the GPS-Nunspeet poultry slaughterhouse, we have greatly improved hygiene and at the same time achieved water savings of 230,000 litres per day. All thanks to the unique Undine® cleaning technology.

Poultry processing plant GPS-Nunspeet

GPS Nunspeet exists for over 40 years and is the third largest poultry slaughterhouse in the Netherlands. They process over 20,000 chicks per hour. When cleaning slaughterhouses of this size, huge amounts of water and energy are used. But GPS wanted to tackle this. Technical director Herman Franken: “GPS strives to be a sustainable company. We want to reduce our energy and water consumption. That’s why we took IWC into our hands.

Cleaning with the Undine® technology

Our assessment showed our Undine® systems be of great use in the slaughter, ready-to-cook and cooling departments. Some examples of how the Undine® systems are used in the production process of GPS include:

• Product cleaning. The outside and inside of the poultry is cleaned perfectly with Undine® units.
• Conveyor belt cleaning. Two Undine® bi-Turbo’s on the conveyor belt ensure a clean product.
• Crate washing. The crates which are used to store and transport products are cleaned perfectly with Undine® crate washers.
• Tray cleaning. These are cleaned perfectly with the Undine® 4 mix chamber.
• Shackle cleaning. All types of shackles are cleaned perfectly.
• Cleaning of the cropper, neck breaker, neck skin trimmer, and lung suction unit.

Results

The investment of GPS-Nunspeet has an extremely high Return on Investment (ROI). The investment in the Undine® has been recouped within a short time. But the Undine® technology has brought many more benefits:

1. Improved hygiene

Hygiene has improved enormously. After the introduction of the Undine® there was a huge reduction in the number of bacteria and potential pathogenic enteros. The inspector of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Authority even said that he had never seen such clean crates before. In addition, GPS was also inspected by McDonalds, and they received the highest possible rating.

2. Water and energy saving

Technical director Herman Franken: ”The system operates perfectly and uses almost no water”. The application of the Undine® has resulted in an enormous water saving of 8.000 litres of water per hour per line. For GPS, this means water savings of 23.0000 litres per day or 60.000 m3 per year. This also saves a lot of energy. In 1997, GPS-Nunspeet had energy costs of 0.008 cents per kg chicken processed. In 2011 this was 0.01 cents per kg live weight. Taking into account the increase in energy prices from 1997 to 2011, this amounts to a saving of 37% on energy costs.

3. Less waste

The food safety requirements are strict. If a product contains too many bacteria or pathological enteros, it can’t be used. Because the Undine® cleans products and machines much better, there’s less waste.

4. Reduced labour costs

Thanks to the Undine® technology, there was no need for manual cleaning. GPS-Nunspeet was able to use its staff for other aspects of the production process.

5. Less maintenance

Normal nozzles get clogged by lime. This does not happen with Undine®, because of the technology whereby water and air are mixed under high pressure. The Undine® systems are therefore almost completely maintenance-free.

We also have the right solution for you

Do you want to clean your crates better, faster and cheaper? Do not hesitate and contact us or call +31 (0) 527 745 932. Together with you, we will look for the best solution. Then we will make a proposal, including the ROI, payback period and a quotation.