Manual vs. Automatic Pallet Washing

Bykshah

If you operate a food and beverage facility, you’ll know how essential sanitation is to your business success. Or, you might own and manage a pharmaceutical company where cleanliness is vital. Either way, making sure your products follow regulatory compliance and reach the market safely is critical — now more than ever.

Every food and pharmaceutical firm relies on pallets to secure and ship products. That includes inbound and outbound goods. Today, most industries catering to human health have switched their pallet preference from wood to plastic. While plastic pallets are much more sanitary than wood, they still require cleaning attention.

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It’s nearly impossible to clean wooden pallets to current safety standards.  As an industry professional, you’re no doubt aware of recent regulations set by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) surrounding the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Part of the FSMA puts requirements on business owners and production managers to increase sanitation measures to prevent foodborne illness outbreaks rather than react to them.

The Importance of Cleaning Plastic Pallets

Properly washing plastic pallets is part of FSMA compliance measures. Cleaning plastic pallets to acceptable government standards isn’t difficult, as long as you have the right plastic pallet washing equipment. Fortunately, we at Cherry’s Industrial Equipment offer the right plastic pallet cleaning equipment like manual and automatic pallet washers.

Before we share how Cherry’s Industrial can help you and your facility comply with FDA regulations, it’s essential to talk about why cleaning plastic pallets is so important. It’s a must to be regulatory compliant, but it’s also necessary to know why the FDA brought in the new FSMA rules starting in 2011. It’s because people were getting sick, being hospitalized and even dying from foodborne pathogens.

Statistics from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are alarming. Before 2011 and the start of the new food safety plan, one in six Americans — that’s 48 million people — fell ill every year from food-and beverage-related illnesses. Furthermore, 128,000 were hospitalized, and 3,000 died as the result of pathogen-contaminated food.

Of the 31 known pathogens found in the U.S. food chain, the

top five that cause illnesses are:

In addition to these five pathogens, the Mayo Clinic reports that common cold and flu viruses can live and thrive on plastic, steel and other hard surfaces longer than on other surfaces. An employee who handles a plastic pallet while feeling under the weather, for example, could easily spread that virus or pathogen to product packaging or to the next person who handles the pallet.

Because viruses and pathogens can linger on surfaces for long periods of time, prompt and regular sanitation is vital. During a time when cleanliness and sanitation are critical, the importance of keeping plastic pallets clean and free of harmful pathogens is essential.

Today, U.S. companies involved in the harvesting, transporting, processing and warehousing food sector must have an internal food safety plan in place. The FDA’s framework involves outlining good manufacturing processes, identifying specific hazard analysis and imposing risk-based preventive controls for human food. The goal is to minimize or prevent bacteria, virus and parasite contamination rather than responding to an outbreak jeopardizing public safety. Part of a Hazard Analysis and Risk-based Prevention Control (HARPC) plan or Hazard Analysis and Critical Controls Points (HACCP) plan is addressing how to clean plastic pallets so they meet current FDA standards.

HARPC or HACCP Plans

Developing an effective HARPC or HACCP plan for manual and automatic pallet washing machines involves taking a critical look at your processes. It also requires a thorough assessment of whether your existing pallet sanitizing equipment still works. These are the FDA guidelines to help you prepare a food safety HARPC/HACCP plan that includes your plastic pallet cleaning methods:

  • Accurately describing your possible food safety dangers.
  • Recommending steps taken to deal with real threats.
  • Detailing your facility’s food safety strategy and response.
  • Providing proof of implementing safety measures and evidence of checks.
  • Formulating tactics your facility will take to contain problems if they arise.

Your HARPC or HACCP plan processes for plastic pallet cleaning will be site-specific. Your safety steps depend on what products you handle and what pallet sanitation equipment you currently employ. If you have a small-volume facility with low-risk materials, you might rely on manual pallet washing equipment or processes. If your business is a high-volume and high-risk operation, then an automated pallet washing system with multi-stage, wash-rinse-dry features should be a top priority.

How to Keep Pallets Clean: Manual vs. Automatic Pallet Washing

One of the most significant plastic pallet benefits is that they are easier to clean and sanitize than traditional wooden pallets. Unlike wood pallets, plastic pallets do not stain, retain odor or absorb harmful chemicals or toxins. Despite their many advantages, plastic pallets still require regular, thorough cleaning and sterilization to remain compliant with health standards and prevent the spread of harmful pathogens.

It is clearly understood that cleaning plastic pallets is essential to maintaining high health standards; however, the debate over manual vs. automatic pallet washing may not. There are pros and cons to each method, and they depend on your particular situation:

  • Manual pallet washing: This is the most basic and simple way to clean plastic pallets. However, washing pallets manually is not always the most effective return on your time or money. Cleaning plastic pallets by hand or with a manual pallet washing machine is more labor intensive. Manual cleaning can also be messier.
  • Automatic pallet washing: This cleaning and sanitation method removes almost all physical labor from the process. Automatic washing also speeds the cycle enormously. For a facility that handles many pallets during a production shift, manual washing probably can’t maintain the pace, and automation is the only solution to comply with regulations.

How Manual Pallet Washing Works

There are two manual pallet washing forms. One is literally by hand. The other is using a pallet washing machine that’s designed to be manually operated. Both have their drawbacks through needless time consumption, overall mess and general inefficiency.

Hand washing plastic pallets is the most economical cleaning method, but it’s far from the most effective. You can have a worker go to work with a brush and a bucket of soapy water. That may be sufficient for a small job and be enough just to get by.

Washing pallets by hand may include issuing your worker a pressurized power washer. This will take some of the arm work out of scrubbing a plastic pallet’s top, bottom and sides. Power washers however are messy and will more than likely require that operations be relegated outdoors where your pallets face increased risk exposure from pollens, insects and bird droppings.

Power washing pallets is time-consuming and can be energy inefficient. This hand method uses a lot of energy, large amounts of water and leaves uncontained soap residue flowing to the storm drains. While manually washing pallets by hand may be suitable for a quick clean before storing unused pallets, there is clearly a better way to manually wash plastic pallets.

One noteworthy manual washing solution includes the PPW-2500 manual pallet washer. This quality machine from Cherry’s Industrial Equipment is for low-volume applications. It has a 10-gallon contained waste water tank, stainless steel construction and handles pallets up to 48 inches tall and 6.5 inches wide. Manual pallet washing systems are ideal for small volume applications or industries that do not have strict hygiene regulations. The PPW-2500 is a great tool, but it still can’t do the work that bigger automatic pallet washers can.

Undoubtedly, there are limitations to the extent that hand washing or a manual pallet washing system can sanitize and sterilize pallets. In fact, these options could be used as a first step for removing larger messes and debris from pallets to make automatic washing easier and quicker. Implementation strategies for washing pallets will of course vary from one company to the next since efficient use of time and resources is what companies are looking for as well.

How Automatic Pallet Washing Works

While manual pallet washers have a place in the industry, they do not offer the same type of performance you get with an automatic pallet washing system. Automatic pallet washers eliminate repetitive human-based tasks from the washing, sanitizing and drying process. This reduces or entirely removes inconsistencies, which could lead to incomplete cleaning and raising the risk of pathogen contamination. The thoroughness and cleanliness you get with automated washers simply can’t be achieved through manual washing methods.

You also can’t get the production level with manual washing that you can with automation. Automatic pallet washers can accommodate 100 to 200 pallets per hour. Can you imagine the size of the manual workforce you’d need to wash this many pallets by hand in an hour?

The only manual force required to operate an automatic pallet washer is to monitor loading the machine and unloading it. Once a dirty or otherwise contaminated pallet is fed into the washer’s entry point, a mechanical conveyor takes over until it’s sent out. Inside, a combination of high-impact pressure nozzles remove residues like blood, fat, powder, dye, grease or any loose debris trapped on the pallet.

Automatic pallet washers have self-contained water reservoirs that avoid waste and cross-contamination during the washing and rinsing steps. They are also detergent compatible and work with your unique requirements and formula. Some automatic pallet washers like the PPW-C24 high-volume model have a three-stage module design that includes:

  • Stage 1: A spray-only module with heated water. Detergent can be added to the spray feature.
  • Stage 2: A combination of spray and rinse. Two separate water sources aid in thorough cleaning.
  • Stage 3: A triple set containing spray, rinse and dry. An add-on mechanical dryer speeds up the process.

Though automatic pallet washers are a relatively large investment, the return you get on your investment is significant. For large-volume facilities that need to clean, rinse, sanitize and dry plastic pallets and freezer spacers, there is nothing comparable to an automatic pallet washer system.

At Cherry’s Industrial, we understand that the goals and needs for each company differ. Our staff has the experience and practical knowledge to explain the distinct features and benefits offered through both the manual and automatic pallet washing formats. We will explore that now a little further.

Key Differences Between Manual and Automatic Pallet Washing

Now that you know more about what manual and automatic pallet washers are and how they operate, here are some key differences you need to be aware of:

1. Initial Investment

You could argue that manual washing is far less expensive than using automated washing equipment. That position might be true for the initial equipment cost, but it’s not necessarily right for the long term. You need to consider your return on investment (ROI) when deciding on your plastic pallet cleaning options. When it is all said and done your ROI will be better with an automated system when you calculate labor savings and increased productivity.  Of course, your budget cannot be ignored either. So what else is there to consider?

2. Operational Compliance

Deciding between manual and automatic pallet washing systems requires a hard look at present and future business demands. Cleaning your plastic pallets to acceptable hygienic standards is no longer an option, especially when you face inspections from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) arm of the FDA. These agencies follow strict rules, especially when it comes to ensuring increased hygiene in shipping and transporting food products.

Your business will experience an FSIS inspection at some point in your operations. If you’re compliant with current food safety regulations, you should have little concern. Overall, these are the issues that place a facility at risk of failing FSIS inspections:

  • Dirt and filth: Most bacterial or chemical contamination happens in dirty and filthy conditions. It’s not that these unclean parameters directly cause contamination. Rather, they offer breeding grounds and are overall contributors to health risks caused by food poisoning.
  • Decomposition: Dirty and filthy sites hide organic waste and by-products that naturally occur in the food-handling industry. Rotting organics are a leading contributor to pathogens, and not properly washing equipment like plastic pallets is a recipe for disaster. Having the right equipment to wash and sanitize your pallets will likely earn you a successful passing mark in an FSIS inspection.
  • Unsanitary conditions: Dirt, filth and decomposition are blatant signs of unsanitary conditions in a food or pharmaceutical facility. They’re unacceptable and not tolerated by inspectors. However, sanitation is a manageable part of routine facility operations. Having the proper sanitation equipment makes all the difference to a smoothly running place and trouble-free inspection reports.

FSIS inspectors will examine and monitor all facets of production, storage and shipping in your facility. Without question, these inspectors will want to view your pallet washing equipment and watch your processes. Here are the four points you can expect to be held accountable on if you’re an American food-handling business:

  • Equipment state: The state of your food handling equipment will have an immediate impact on an inspector’s impression. If you’ve invested in modern pallet cleaning machinery equipped with automated features, you’ll likely have a higher inspection rating than if using manual procedures. Your equipment state must be suitable for consistently cleaning plastic pallets to an acceptable standard, every time.
  • Handling procedures: This also refers to your pallet processes. Manual pallet cleaning requires far more handling steps and time than automatic washers. Multi-handling between workers increases the risk of cross-contamination between products. Automated washing decreases the chance of accidental pollution by the very nature of the equipment design.
  • Employee training: The officials from FSIS want assurance that your workers are properly trained in food safety procedures and know how to operate pallet washing equipment safely. The inspectors’ safety focus is primarily on the end-user or consumer, and they want proof that your workers provide that. Manual washing leads to operational inconsistencies and increased safety risks. Automated pallet cleaners do repetitive tasks consistently and greatly lower end-user risks.
  • Process documentation: Documentation is an important part of the inspection and record-keeping flow. Paper provides proof that your people are trained and your equipment is proper. Automated systems are far easier to document than manual processes, and that is one more reason to invest in automatic pallet washing equipment versus manual.

3. Overall Efficiency

The other main reason why automatic pallet washing is superior to manual methods is efficiency. Automatic pallet washers can process up to 200 pallets per hour. This rate isn’t possible with manual washing. Even the best manual pallet washer can’t come close to this production level.

Automatic washers take the guesswork out of pallet cleaning. You and your employees never have to worry that a pallet isn’t clean enough, or that hygiene standards have not been met. Automatic pallet washers are designed to reach specific, germ-killing temperatures. They have built-in spray nozzles, rollers and brushes that ensure pallets are thoroughly washed. While manual pallet washers are useful for quick spot washes or small volume applications, automatic washers are the more efficient option.

If you have a large-volume facility where you’re cleaning and sanitizing many pallets per shift, it makes complete sense to look into automated pallet washing systems. At Cherry’s Industrial Equipment, we have the best American-made automated pallet washers available in today’s market. We even carry a top-quality manual pallet washer if that suits your needs.

Benefits of Automatic Pallet Washing

If you’re subject to FDA rules and FSIS inspections requiring you to put food safety first, there’s no better benefit than adding an automated pallet cleaning system to your inventory. Your workers will thank you, and so will your customers.

Plastic pallets are critical components in a sanitation plan. Plastic is far superior to wood as a pallet material, especially in food processing environments. However, plastic is still a sensitive material that needs regular and continual cleaning. To benefit from using plastic pallets, you also need the cleanliness that an automatic washing system delivers. Here are the main ways an automatic pallet washer from Cherry’s Industrial can help your business:

  • Follow a repeatable process: Automation allows for machinery to accomplish repetitive tasks continually and without deviation from set standards. Manual washing can’t achieve repeatable processes without a margin of error.
  • Deliver consistent results: An automatic pallet washer delivers consistent cleaning that no manual washing method can touch. If you want maximum consistency with every pallet wash, you’ll get it with an automatic pallet washer.
  • Produce better quality work: You’ll get another top benefit through better quality cleaning when you use an automatic pallet washer. If you are manually cleaning your pallets, hard to reach or inaccessible areas can harbor hidden bacteria. Automatic equipment allows for a deep and thorough cleaning that manual washes miss. It is also worth noting that after a few hours of work employees are more than likely going to provide less attention to detail than when they first began.
  • Comply with regulations: You must comply with FDA and FSIS food safety regulations. The best way to comply is by outfitting your business with an automatic pallet and freezer spacer washer from Cherry’s Industrial Equipment.
  • Program the process: Automatic pallet washers require some programming to start the process, and then they virtually run themselves. That’s an enormous benefit because it gives you the peace of mind that every wash will be complete without having to inspect for human error.
  • Improve productivity and efficiency: In a mid to high-volume shop, you’ll benefit from improved productivity and efficiency when you invest in an automatic pallet washer. The investment return and related benefits quickly compound when you increase to 100 to 200 pallets per hour. As your business and budget grow, you can add more washing and drying units to your lineup for even faster performance.
  • Higher sanitation standards: No manual washing system can give you the high sanitation standards that an automatic washer will. From an FDA and FSIS perspective, high sanitation is the biggest benefit you’ll get from an automatic pallet washer.
  • Higher safety standards: Here’s where both your workers and your end-users benefit. Automatic pallet washers are safe equipment pieces to operate, and they greatly assist in delivering safe food products to a hungry American market.

Automatic Pallet Drying

So far, we’ve mainly focused on the washing and sanitizing part of plastic pallet cleaning. Those are the most critical first steps in pallet cleaning operations, but drying a wet and clean pallet is important too. Mechanically drying a washed pallet with warm, forced air accelerates the process. You don’t have to wait while a pallet slowly dries in the air.

Our pallet dryers are available as an add-on module to our automatic pallet washing system. This is one of the flexible options available for companies with fixed budgets  If a company, for example, cannot afford to purchase the complete automatic washer system they can buy the wash and rinse module portion and then purchase the dryer at a future time.

Automatic Pallet Washing and Drying From Cherry’s Industrial

Maintaining a clean, germ-free workplace — including pallets — is essential for the well-being of your employees, customers and products. There are several ways to clean plastic pallets, but the most effective sanitation method is by investing in a high-quality automatic pallet washing system. Automatic washers eliminate the possibility of human error and offer consistent results. They are also capable of cleaning hundreds of pallets in a short amount of time — time that you can invest in other areas of your operation.

The best solution we at Cherry’s Industrial Equipment recommend is a complete automatic pallet washing system – a stainless steel automatic pallet washer with fresh wash/rinse capability and a heated dryer. This is a complete turn-key plastic pallet and freezer spacer wash system that completes your HARPC or HACCP plan and satisfies all FDA and FSIS regulations and inspections.

With an automatic pallet washer from Cherry’s Industrial, you benefit from features such as:

  • Independent washing stations: Our washers are designed with separate, independent washing stations to keep pallets isolated and free of contamination after sanitizing. Once you have finished cleaning your pallets using an automatic washer, be sure to follow all recommended storage procedures, including wrapping and storing plastic pallets away from non-sterilized ones.
  • High-performance spray nozzles: Cherry’s automatic pallet washers are designed with carefully placed, high-impact spray nozzles that offer complete coverage. Spray nozzles are effective at rinsing, cleaning, sanitizing and removing challenging debris, including blood, oil, powders, dyes, grease and dirt. Our automatic pallet washers are also fast.
  • Stainless steel design: Our washers are crafted out of durable stainless steel, which makes them a long-lasting investment. Stainless steel does not rust or corrode and does not dent easily. For this reason, key washer components — including manual rollers that help move pallets through the wash zone — are also made of stainless steel.
  • Operational control: Automatic washers take the labor out of your hands, but you still retain full control over important settings — including wash time and volume — from an easy to use control panel. You also have the ability to add more washing and drying models to your business or warehouse as your budget permits, allowing you to sanitize all pallets quickly and consistently.

With an automatic pallet washing system complete with fresh wash/rinse and blow dry modules, you’ll be safety compliant every day of operation. In addition to convenience and compliance, automatic pallet washers from Cherry’s offer you peace of mind, knowing that this is the most effective solution available to offer safety for both your employees and the public. In the end, everyone wins.

Cherry’s Industrial Equipment is America’s leading source for pallet cleaning and other material-handling equipment. If you’re upgrading or replacing your plastic pallet washing system, call a knowledgeable Cherry’s Industrial representative today at 1-800-350-0011 or use our online contact form. We’ll be happy to help you solve your pallet washing challenges.

Categories:Posted By:kshah