FLOORING

Repurposing a key facility area requires expert advice

Every year producers could find themselves needing to completely repurpose an area of their facility due to new supply contracts, among other changes, and finding the right support is a critical factor. Food & Beverage Industry News reports.

“I f it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” This is a statement that Allied Finishes subscribes to and uses as a company motto and as experts in flooring solutions for the food and beverage industry, it is a good position to take.

Over the course of the last decade Allied Finishes has built a reputation for providing durable and safe solutions which are always complaint with food safety standards while also being delivered as fast as possible.

Among the suite of Allied Finishes’ capabilities are construction projects, with a specific focus on internal construction. Fit out projects, which is backed by extensive experience in cool room fit outs. And repurposing areas within the facility, such as turning cool rooms into productions areas.

Over the course of the last decade Allied Finishes has worked with a string of food and beverage manufacturers and producers from a large variety of sectors, including meat processing, commercial bakeries, snack food, and fruit and vegetable facilities.

This extensive work has allowed Allied Finishes the opportunity to see what works across the entire sector and evolves alongside food safety standards, which is especially important with a renewed focus on the reduction of food waste in Australia.

The rest of this article will focus on Allied Finishes repurposing capabilities and how food and beverage manufacturers and producers can benefit from them.

Internal construction and repurposing in food manufacturing facilities

Internal construction in the food and beverage manufacturing industry is huge and hugely important.

Every year, new supply contracts are won with distributors, meaning a new production line must go in, or a change in existing production lines to cater for the new contract. This requirement is always a large-scale undertaking for the producer and manufacturers and the right solutions from the right experts can make a big difference.

Cool rooms are turned into production areas, warehouses into cool rooms, or production areas into storage areas/warehouses. There’s a lot that goes on that no one would see. And while these projects are internal, there’s a lot to be considered before signing the purchase orders and kicking off the project.

Below are some of the key pieces of advice Allied Finishes feels customers should be aware of when undertaking a repurposing project.

First things first – Drainage

When using part of a cool room, storeroom, or even another production room, it can be easy to overlook the drainage design in the room.

Most areas will have their own drainage points, or strip drains, so a new drainage design is often not considered. And yet rarely will the new production line fit the mould for your existing drainage.

Overlooking this will mean water will pool in various areas, washdowns will be difficult, and the area may be unnecessarily slippery and dangerous. In addition to this, not all areas throughout your facility will have forklift-rated drainage. Production areas typically require this, so ensuring this has been catered for is essential.

So, ensure the drainage is designed specifically to cater for the new room requirements. Allied Finishes’ consultants are more than happy to discuss this with you and develop a new design.

Fall correction

Alongside drainage design planning, goes fall correction. Look at your existing areas, and where the water falls to the drains. It is essential to review this and consider any changes that may need to be made prior to having a new floor installed.

When repurposing, customers need to be aware of drainage, fall correction, and access to other areas.

Allied Finishes is focused on repurposing for food and beverage manufacturers and producers.

Access to other areas

When an area is being repurposed, typically multiple walls are knocked out and new ones installed. While it may seem obvious, entry points to the area must be considered, ensuring a pre-production clean room is accessed first before workers enter the room.

In addition, entrances to other areas, as well as main exits must be thoroughly thought out, to ensure factory efficiency and safety of staff.

There’s a lot behind a repurposing project. From the design, to demolition, reconstruction, and finally the new machinery being installed, the whole project can be quite a mission.

But getting in touch with experts that work on the design of these facilities on a daily basis is only a phone call away with Allied Finishes providing round the clock support to customers. F