INDUSTRIAL CLEANING TESTIMONIALS

As a food producer, Nestlé works in an extremely sensitive area, where the production of infant formula and baby food results in even more stringent requirements for cleanliness and hygiene. The specifications vary depending on the hygiene zone: dust must not be whipped up, there must be absolutely no contamination, the cleaning technology must have the appropriate power and capacity, whereby not a single particle may come loose from the surface material of the devices. The search for providers can prove challenging depending on the area of application. Whereas surface cleaning is fairly simple to resolve, the complex cleaning of belts and the conveyor system involves numerous individually developed elements.

Christian Bäckerbauer, Head of Logistics at the Nestlé site in Biessenhofen, is responsible for by far the largest area in the plant. He summarises the importance of smooth logistics concisely: "If things go wrong here, nothing comes in and nothing goes out – that is a huge responsibility." A huge amount has been invested over the last few years to make the processes even more efficient. The picking system is now fully automated and TPM (Total Production Management), as made famous by Toyota, has been implemented on the lines. Following the modernisation, the cleaning technology that had previously been used became something of a stumbling block. The problem: The dust that accumulates on the belts and conveyor system has to be extracted, and even the wooden pallets used produce dirt that must be eliminated. "We wanted to bring our dust control technology bang up to date and adapt it to our requirements. At the same time, we also wanted to make it easier for our employees to work with."

And so the hunt began for a manufacturer with the right solution up their sleeve. Off-the-shelf products are not suitable for Christian Bäckerbauer, as the hose lengths or supply lines of the vacuuming technology must fit perfectly, for example. "It's fascinating how differently providers respond to an enquiry," says the logistics expert. "One sends a brochure, another sends a vacuum cleaner. Kärcher impressed us immediately with a product presentation in which our employees were able to test the entire portfolio. Anything that was not possible was made possible."

Three vacuum cleaners were initially purchased, which impressed employees during a trial phase in terms of their performance, material properties and quality. These were stationary models with a suction supply line and hoses, plus a mobile solution. Now the company is poised to purchase further vacuum cleaners, as the feedback from the team has been extremely positive. "When I hear my employees tell me that they finally have a good tool, I know we've done something right."

"My employees tell me that they finally have a good tool."

- Christian Bäckerbauer, Head of Logistics at Nestlé Biessenhofen

After the first phase of modernising the cleaning technology at Nestlé in Biessenhofen, employees are extremely satisfied. Delivery was fast, in-house installation was simple and any problems that occurred were eliminated immediately. Looking to the future, however, Christian Bäckerbauer already has new innovations from Kärcher in mind. "We have very long conveyor belts. If there was a flat industrial robotic vacuum cleaner that could automatically clean beneath them, that would make our lives a lot easier. Not only for us in logistics, but for the entire plant."

Spot welding guns, grippers and adhesive equipment on robots undergo maintenance in the central workshop at the BMW Group plant in Munich so that they can subsequently be returned to production. Depending on the tool category, around 700 articles are in circulation, which creates a considerable workload. The maintenance department faces yet another challenge: It is not possible to know when which tools will enter the workshop and how much effort will be involved in maintenance and repair. This means that 90% of the work cannot be planned – and this not only applies to maintenance but also to the industrial cleaning that is required in advance.

Dry ice blasting has proven an effective cleaning method for spot welding guns and other tools. The central workshop at the BMW Group plant in Munich therefore invested in a blasting cubicle and a dry ice blaster some time ago. To make sure they were always ready, dry ice had to be delivered every week. "Over time, we experienced the familiar problem with dry ice blasting: sometimes we had no cleaning to do, so it evaporated – other times we had so much cleaning to do that we didn't have enough," explains Alfred Weber, supervisor in the central workshop. "This is unsatisfactory in terms of both costs and logistics." Weber spoke to a cleaning service provider, who cleaned various areas of the plant with dry ice at the weekend. Even then, large quantities of dry ice were often left over, depending on cleaning requirements.

On the hunt for the solution Weber started the search for a provider who could solve his problem – without a concrete idea of what the solution might look like. His research finally brought him to Kärcher, who were just launching a new dry ice blaster onto the market. Best of all, the L2P independently produces dry ice from CO2, which means that processes can be made significantly more efficient. Several members of the Kärcher team visited the central workshop to demonstrate the product. One thing that was noted was that the cleaning speed was not quite as high as with a large dry ice blaster. As Weber says, "There is no one-size-fits-all solution and every solution has its pros and cons. I want to be able to speak openly about this with my suppliers."
The L2P has now been in use for some time and the fact that logistics is now simpler is a clear plus as far as Weber is concerned. "The machine is user-friendly and is easy to switch on and start up. We can store the CO2 bottles without a loss of quality. It's just like a drinks crate – you take out a bottle whenever you need one." Weber and his employees happily overlook the fact that individual cleaning tasks take 5 minutes longer.

Weber was also pleased with the approach to a problem that was not discovered until after the product had been delivered. An employee informed him that the L2P that had been delivered did not have the same power as the demonstration model. "I talked to Kärcher about this and a service technician came immediately to take a look." The issue was a technical one: the CO2 bottles used featured a pressure reducer, but the L2P needs bottles without a valve in order to work at full power. "Problems will always crop up. When a supplier comes along and solves them, I'm impressed," says Weber.

Industrial cleaning is often only associated with eliminating dirt and establishing cleanliness. As a result, it is often seen as an unwanted by-product of certain operational processes, as it has nothing to do with the products a company manufactures. This way of looking at things causes a certain organisational blindness to creep in and the sources of process faults to remain undiscovered. Dirk Jörn Hahn, Head of Professional Sales in Germany at Kärcher, explains: "When customers contact us about these issues, we visit their site to see their premises and to interview those involved in existing processes." This gives us an overview of the situation and enables us to make recommendations that sometimes focus directly on cleaning and sometimes involve other aspects.

The devil is often in the detail. Once a problem has been identified and resolved, it becomes apparent just how much cost has been involved. Every measure that makes processes smoother and reduces downtimes saves an industrial company hard cash. "The same is true of the pallet vacuum system," explains Dirk Jörn Hahn. "We have now implemented this across a wide range of facilities and realised that this subject is relevant to all industries." The crucial point here is that wooden pallets bring wood chips and coarse dirt into warehouses – that much is obvious and makes cleaning necessary. The fact that the pallets also contaminate data light barriers and thereby cause system failures, however, was only discovered by Kärcher when visiting a customer's site.

When a pallet underbody vacuum system is installed, wood chips and other dirt particles are brushed off the pallet and vacuumed up before they can enter the warehouse. As dirt is no longer brought inside, the cost and effort involved in maintenance cleaning of warehouses is significantly reduced. Damage to sweepers caused by larger dirt particles occurs much less frequently. Best of all, production downtime is reduced to practically zero, as the data light barriers can work cleanly, which means that productivity is also significantly increased.

Kärcher uses an ROI calculator to show customers how investments compare to potential savings. "At the end of the day, it's the bare figures that count," explains Dirk Jörn Hahn. "We design suitable systems and give an idea of the return on investment once the project is complete." Customers benefit from standard systems that can be adapted with piping to suit their specific requirements as well as from the fact that the power of the systems can be adapted to the application in question. "Of course this is different everywhere," says Dirk Jörn Hahn. "On average, the investment in the necessary vacuum system pays for itself within a year."