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Food industry: How to renovate a production area while avoiding a standstill of the production lines
Are your walls and ceilings damaged? Do your business premises no longer meet the strictest hygiene standards? Did you know you can restore your damaged walls and ceilings without tearing down the existing structure and without any operating losses?
Resistance put to the test
In an agri-food plant, a food production laboratory or a cold store, the resistance of the materials used is really put to the test. The frequent passing of vehicles and carts, impacts, rust caused by humidity, low resistance to certain cleaning products, etc. If the wall and ceiling coverings are damaged, the sanitary requirements for business premises (HACCP, ISO 22000 etc.) can no longer be met.
Often, only the damaged part is renovated in these cases, with a band-aid solution that does not guarantee compliance with the strict hygiene standards. Rusty sandwich panels are covered with a layer of paint that starts flaking off two years later. Sometimes the entire panel must be replaced and the renovation entails a total standstill of the production lines.
Limit production downtime
You can limit the impact of a renovation on the production activities by renovating your walls and ceilings with a cover plate. By making this choice, you will meet the strictest hygiene standards while at the same time minimising your operating losses during the renovation.
The support structure can be made of any material: tiling, sandwich panels, concrete blocks, plastered concrete, metal structures etc. It’s much easier to cover your old wall and ceiling coverings with smooth food grade plates than to disassemble or even demolish the entire structure and replace it.
We recommend that you take into account the following criteria when choosing your cover plates:
Opt for a hygienic covering
Choose a smooth cover plate, as this type of plates is most suitable for food processing environments and is a lot easier to disinfect and maintain. Furthermore, the surface should have a minimum of joints. A polyester resin plate with a food grade gel coating is much more hygienic than a painted sandwich panel, a PVC plate or tiles with cement joints.
Give preference to durable, highly resistant materials
Disinfecting business premises is time-consuming and costly. We recommend that you opt for a highly resistant and low-maintenance covering that is able to withstand repeated cleaning with aggressive chemicals. A high-quality polyester plate, for instance, will have a higher resistance to stains, humidity and certain acids. So you can reduce the time and costs needed for cleaning by choosing a covering that is easy to maintain and clean.
Renovate your ceilings
The ceiling: an area that deserves particular attention. Disassembling a ceiling can be a complex process. All the technical components (ventilation motor and ducts, sprinkler, lights, etc.) must be dismantled since leaving them in place entails a risk of breakage. If the ceiling is subject to major technical constraints (dust accumulation, humidity, condensation), it’s not necessary to remove the panel if the structure is sound enough. We advise you to cover the ceiling with tiles for suspended ceilings. If your ceiling is in good condition, you may use glued polyester plates.
Limit preparation
Regardless of the type of support structure and regardless of whether or not it is damaged, we advise you to choose a wall or ceiling plate that does not require major preparation work. The support simply needs to be smooth, clean and not brittle. Moreover, choosing a modular covering with a limited thickness (2 to 3 mm) will enable you to limit the loss of working area. The plates are easy to install and can be inserted behind pipes and machines. This makes for quick work with a minimum of production interruptions!
Go for the best opportunity cost
When you are working, you most likely prefer to concentrate on your work rather than on the maintenance of walls and ceilings! That’s why we recommend that you do not skimp on the quality of the covering material. It’s not wise to opt for a band-aid solution. The material must be of high quality in terms and hygiene and safety, easy to clean, durable and adaptable. Moreover, it must be easy to install and enable you to limit production downtime to a minimum during the installation.
In order to meet all these criteria, HYGI PANEL® has specialised in the production of an innovative covering that is perfectly in line with the requirements of the sector. Composite plates made of polyester resin and braided fibreglass have been developed for renovation works in compliance with the applicable standards and with a minimum of production downtime. Not only are the HYGI PANEL® plates of the highest quality, they also offer the best production cost: limited preparation works in the area to be renovated, downtime reduced by half and quick resumption of activities.
