Choosing the correct filter size is more than picking a number off a chart. It is about matching your filtration solution to the fluid characteristics, flow requirements and contamination level of your process.
HiFlux filters cover a wide range, but real-world conditions determine the best size and configuration. Hygienic applications demand product integrity and cleanability, while industrial processes often face heavier dirt loads and tougher conditions.
Fluids vary in viscosity, and thicker products flow more slowly, which can increase pressure drop and reduce throughput if the filter is undersized. High contamination levels also require a filter that can manage dirt efficiently, reduce cleaning frequency, maintain low differential pressure, and protect equipment further along the production line.
🔎Key things to consider when sizing your filter:
• How your product actually behaves in motion, not just on paper
• Whether your flow rate is continuous, variable or peak driven
• How often contamination spikes occur during production
• What level of protection your downstream equipment requires
• Whether your environment calls for hygienic design or heavy-duty industrial performance
The right answers to these questions shape the filter selection, material choice and overall configuration. Get it right, and you gain reliability, efficiency and longer service intervals – all while achieving the clarity and purity your process demands.
🔹If you would like support in sizing the right solution for your process, we are here to help.📞01675 620914 | 📧sales@industrialtradingsolutions.com
The Alfa Laval Leakage Detection Butterfly Valve has officially landed on ITS Lite and is ready to buy online.
If product safety and process integrity matter to your operation, this is a smart upgrade. Designed for hygienic applications across dairy, food, beverage, and home and personal care, it delivers secure fluid separation with built-in leakage detection in one compact solution.
Designed with process integrity in mind:
• Leak-tight shut-off to protect product quality
• Detect issues early with built-in leakage monitoring
• Compact, efficient design that saves space and reduces maintenance
• Reliable performance that keeps production moving
For even greater control, pair it with an Alfa Laval ThinkTop® control unit for real-time monitoring and simple automation.
No quotes. No waiting. Just straightforward online ordering through ITS Lite.
Energy costs have become one of the most visible line items in hygienic manufacturing – and pumps are often quietly doing a lot of the spending. In food & beverage, dairy, brewery, pharmaceutical and home-care production, pumps run for long hours, handle frequent product changeovers, and support CIP/SIP routines that can be just as demanding as the process itself.
✅The good news: modern hygienic pump technology has moved well beyond “buy a more efficient motor”. Today’s best energy wins come from matching pump type to duty, reducing friction losses in the system, improving control strategies, and choosing designs that stay efficient during real-world operating conditions (not just on a datasheet).
Below is a practical guide to the pump technologies and design choices that can reduce energy consumption without compromising hygiene, product quality or uptime.
Where energy is really being lost in hygienic lines
Before looking at pump options, it helps to understand why pumps waste energy in hygienic plants:
Oversized pumps running far from their best efficiency point (BEP)
Throttling valves used to “control” flow by adding artificial resistance
High-pressure CIP routines that use more head than needed
Long suction runs, tight bends, unnecessary valves and restrictive fittings
Unstable products (shear-sensitive, aerating, high-viscosity) that force conservative operating margins
Wear and internal clearances increasing over time, quietly eroding efficiency
The most effective energy-efficiency projects address the pump + motor + control + pipework together.
Key energy-efficient pump technologies for hygienic processing
1) Variable Speed Drives (VSD/VFD) for centrifugal pumps
For many hygienic duties (especially water-like products, CIP return, transfer and circulation), centrifugal pumps are the workhorses – and they’re often controlled inefficiently.
A variable speed drive allows the pump to match demand instead of pushing maximum flow and throttling it back. Because pump power is strongly related to speed, even modest speed reductions can deliver significant energy savings when the process allows.
Best suited for:
Transfer and circulation with variable flow requirements
CIP supply/return balancing
Tank farm movements and blending loops
Design note: VSDs work best when the system curve and duty range are understood. If your “variable” process is actually “always the same”, correct sizing can be a bigger win than speed control.
2) High-efficiency motors (IE3/IE4) and hygienic motor options
Motor efficiency matters – but it’s rarely the whole story. Upgrading to IE3 or IE4 motors can reduce electrical losses, particularly on continuously running pumps.
Where it shines:
Constant-duty pumps that cannot easily be slowed
Older installations with IE1/IE2 motors
Sites looking to standardise spares and reduce heat load
Hygienic consideration: choose motor designs and mounting that suit washdown zones, minimise crevices, and avoid “water traps” around feet and guards.
3) Efficient impeller and hydraulic designs (for real process conditions)
Modern centrifugal pump families often offer:
Optimised hydraulics to reduce internal losses
Better surface finishes and tighter tolerances
Optional impellers (open/semi-open/closed) tailored to product and solids profile
This matters because hygienic lines often run at part-load (especially with changeovers and multi-product schedules). Hydraulics designed to stay stable across a range can reduce energy and improve control.
Best suited for:
Multi-product lines
Facilities with frequent recipe changes
Systems where “one pump does everything” (often inefficiently)
4) Twin-screw pumps for viscosity range and gentle handling
For products that vary significantly in viscosity or contain delicate inclusions, twin-screw pumps can replace multiple pump types and reduce energy penalties created by “forcing” a centrifugal pump to do a positive-displacement job (or vice versa).
Twin-screw pumps can:
Maintain efficiency across a wide viscosity range
Handle low NPSH scenarios better than some PD options
Reduce shear and foaming compared with high-speed centrifugal solutions
Often simplify line design (fewer bypasses, less rework)
Best suited for:
Syrups, creams, concentrates, gels
Shear-sensitive liquids and aerating products
Duties that switch between CIP and product transfer (depending on design)
5) Rotary lobe pumps with improved efficiency and reduced slip
Rotary lobe pumps are common in hygienic processing for their versatility and cleanability. Energy performance improves when you select:
The right rotor geometry for the viscosity range
Correct clearances and materials for temperature/pressure
The lowest speed that still meets duty and suction conditions
Energy tip: PD pumps are frequently oversized “just in case”. Oversizing increases bypassing/recirculation and can increase energy use as the pump fights the system. Correct sizing and speed control can make a meaningful difference.
6) Air-operated double diaphragm (AODD) alternatives and low-air-consumption designs
AODD pumps are popular for certain hygienic and utility duties, but compressed air is expensive. If AODD is essential (ATEX areas, portability, intermittent transfer), choose designs aimed at lower air consumption and avoid running them as a continuous-duty solution.
Best suited for:
Intermittent transfer, unloading, and drain duties
Where electric motors are impractical
When self-priming and dry-run tolerance are key
Energy reality check: if a pump runs most of the shift, a properly sized electric hygienic pump often wins on energy.
🔎Don’t overlook the “hidden” efficiency boosters
System design improvements that reduce pump energy immediately
Often the easiest savings come from reducing the work the pump has to do:
Remove unnecessary control valves and restrictive fittings
Increase pipe diameter where pressure drops are chronic
Replace tight elbows with swept bends in key sections
Avoid “one pump feeds everything” headers that force worst-case sizing
Confirm static head and friction losses with actual operating data
A pump upgrade without system fixes can leave savings on the table.
Hygienic performance still comes first
Energy-efficiency can’t compromise cleanability or compliance. When evaluating pump technologies for hygienic lines, build hygiene into the specification:
Ever had a valve start failing and wondered what’s really causing it?
Our ITS Servicing & Maintenance team will be able to tell you after they recently carried out an ad hoc site visit at one of our beverage industry customers to inspect an Alfa Laval Mixproof Valve (MPV) that was experiencing failing seals. The purpose of the visit was to observe the process and identify the root cause of the issue.
🔧 During the inspection, our team found that the plug in the valve body was bent and worn, causing the sealing failure.
ITS Servicing manager, Dan Hinton, says, “We removed the first valve body and recommended replacing the valve to ensure reliable operation for their beverage process”.
✅The results: Another successful visit! The customers are satisfied with our timely support, and our ITS servicing team remains their trusted partner for ongoing process reliability🙂👏
💡ITS Solution: As part of our preventative guidance, we advise taking extra care when installing or stripping down valves and to keep spare components on hand. This simple precaution can help maintain valve longevity and reduce unplanned downtime, keeping processes running smoothly.
🔹The ITS Servicing & Maintenance team continues to provide on-site support and expert advice to keep critical hygienic processes running efficiently and, more importantly, safely.
When it comes to maintaining efficiency, safety, and cleanliness in demanding processing environments, the right ducting solutions make all the difference. That’s why we’re proud to continue strengthening our partnership with KMH, a trusted name in high-quality ducting systems.
Recently, our Managing Director, Nick Willetts, visited KMH HQ to reinforce our relationship further, explore innovations, and review the latest product developments. The visit highlighted KMH’s ongoing commitment to engineering excellence and gave us first-hand insight into the solutions now available to support your processing environment.
At ITS, we supply high-quality ducting, pipes and installation materials to support processing sites across the UK. Through KMH, we’re able to offer a reliable, broad, modular range that supports many applications, including dry product transfer, pneumatic conveying and general plant distribution systems. including:
Modular pipe & ducting systems – available in stainless steel, powder-coated or galvanised finishes.
Standard & bespoke components – including bends, connectors, clamps and fittings.
Valves & control solutions – such as two-way and butterfly valves for airflow and product control.
ATEX-compliant options – suitable for hazardous environments.
Hygienic finishes & fabrication – brushed, polished or custom-made to suit your application.
🔹Quality ducting. Trusted supply. Delivered by ITS.
Fouling doesn’t happen overnight. It builds up quietly, layer by layer… until performance suddenly drops off a cliff.
When people hear “fouling,” they often picture a light coating or a small amount of residue.
In reality, it can look like:
• Thick product build-up restricting flow
• Hard scale deposits choking heat transfer
• Biofilm contamination risks in hygienic processes
• Blocked plates or tubes causing pressure changes and instability
📉 The result?
Reduced heat transfer efficiency, longer heating and cooling times, and more frequent CIP cycles, resulting in increased chemical usage. Over time, this drives up running costs, creates unplanned downtime, and in the worst cases can even lead to hygiene failures and product quality issues.
The good news is that fouling is detectable and manageable when you know what to look for.
If your system is working harder than it should, taking longer to reach temperature, or you are seeing creeping pressure changes, you are not imagining it. Fouling may already be costing you.
💡For businesses running Alfa Laval heat exchangers, solutions like the Alfa Laval Extend™ can help you move from reactive maintenance to a more predictive, performance-focused approach. Combined with regular servicing, inspections, and performance checks, it keeps your equipment running as it was designed.
🔹If you would like support identifying early warning signs, reviewing performance trends, or planning preventative maintenance, our ITS servicing & maintenance team can help. We provide inspections, gasket and plate checks, cleaning support, performance optimisation, and ongoing servicing to keep your heat exchangers operating at peak efficiency.
Drop us a message or get in touch to talk through your setup and how we can help keep it running optimally. 📞01675 621014 /📧 servicing@industrialtradingsolutions.com
In hygienic manufacturing environments, few risks are more costly – or more avoidable – than cross-contamination. Whether you’re producing dairy products, brewing beverages, manufacturing pharmaceuticals, or handling home care liquids, protecting product integrity is non-negotiable.
One of the most effective safeguards against contamination is the Mixproof valve. Often hidden away in process lines, these valves quietly do a vital job: ensuring incompatible fluids never meet, even during cleaning cycles.
This article explores what mix-proof valves do, how they work, and why they’re essential for hygienic production.
What is Cross-Contamination in Hygienic Processing?
Cross-contamination occurs when two different media mix unintentionally in a process system. This can happen between:
Product and product (e.g., allergen contamination)
Product and CIP fluid (e.g., caustic/acid residues)
Product and water
Different product batches (quality drift, flavour carryover)
The consequences can be serious:
✅ Product recalls ✅ Allergen incidents ✅ Wasted batches and downtime ✅ Regulatory non-compliance ✅ Damage to brand trust
Preventing cross-contamination isn’t just about cleanliness – it’s about process design and equipment selection.
Why Standard Valves Aren’t Always Enough
In many hygienic systems, single-seat valves are widely used. They’re reliable and cost-effective – but they have limitations.
A single-seat valve can seal a line closed, but:
It doesn’t allow two products to sit close together safely
It can’t always support simultaneous product + cleaning operations
Leakage past a seal may not be detected until contamination occurs
When production efficiency increases and plants aim for reduced downtime, manufacturers often move toward multi-line configurations and simultaneous CIP – which is where mix-proof technology becomes essential.
What is a Mixproof Valve?
A Mixproof valve (also known as a double-seat Mixproof valve) is designed to separate two different liquids in adjacent lines and prevent them from mixing – even if one side is pressurised.
Two products to be located in neighbouring pipelines
Line switching without the risk of cross-contamination
Simultaneous cleaning and production in different zones
This makes them ideal for complex hygienic plants where uptime and safety are both priorities.
How Mixproof Valves Prevent Cross-Contamination
1. Dual Seat Design (Double Block and Bleed)
Mixproof valves use two independent seals (often upper and lower seats), creating a safety zone between them.
That safety zone is vented – meaning:
If a seal leaks, the fluid drains away visibly
Fluids can’t cross from one line into another
This is often referred to as “leakage chamber” protection.
2. Leakage Detection = Contamination Prevention
In a properly installed Mixproof valve:
Any leakage enters the chamber
It’s discharged through a drain port
Operators (or sensors) can detect it early
So instead of unnoticed mixing inside the valve body, leakage becomes:
➡️ controlled, separated, and detectable
3. Seat Lifting for Effective CIP
Many Mixproof valves include a seat lift function, where the valve lifts one seat at a time to allow:
CIP flow across the sealing surfaces
Cleaning without opening the line fully
Reduced risk of product mixing during cleaning
This is particularly valuable in plants where cleaning must happen frequently, but stopping production is expensive.
Where Mixproof Valves are Most Beneficial
Mixproof valves are especially valuable in industries where product changeovers and hygiene requirements are strict.
Food & Beverage
Dairy (milk, yoghurt, cream)
Breweries
Soft drinks
Plant-based alternatives
Critical reasons:
Allergen control
Batch integrity
High-frequency CIP
Pharmaceutical & Biotech
Product purity is essential
Validation and traceability requirements
Low tolerance for residues or contamination
Home Care & Chemical Liquids (Hygienic-grade)
Preventing incompatible chemical mixing
Ensuring clean separation during changeovers
Key Benefits of Using Mixproof Valves
✅ Stronger hygienic protection
Stops unintended mixing between:
products
CIP media
rinse water
✅ Higher plant uptime
Enables:
cleaning one line while running another
fewer production stoppages
✅ Lower product loss and waste
Prevents:
compromised batches
line flushing waste
✅ Better compliance
Helps manufacturers meet:
hygiene standards
audit requirements
internal food safety controls
✅ Space-saving design
Allows compact valve manifolds with:
shorter pipe runs
more efficient routing
Common Considerations When Selecting Mixproof Valves
To get the full value, it’s important to choose the right specification.
Key considerations include:
Seal material compatibility (EPDM, FKM, HNBR etc.)
Actuation requirements (air supply, spring return)
CIP regime (temperature, chemical concentration)
Drain connection positioning
Control and feedback options (open/close sensors)
Approvals (3-A, EHEDG, FDA compliance)
Mixproof Valves: A Smart Investment in Hygienic Safety
Cross-contamination can be catastrophic – not only financially, but reputationally. As production lines become more complex and plants push for continuous operations, Mixproof valves have become a standard solution for reducing risk while improving efficiency.
In simple terms:
Mixproof valves allow plants to do more, faster – without compromising hygiene.
🔹If you have an upcoming skid implementation or processing upgrade, ITS is ready to support your project with expertise, precision, and reliable hygienic solutions.
🚨 Safety incident – and it didn’t need to happen. 🚨
This video shows a real-world safety issue caused by uncontrolled pressure release, the kind of moment that happens fast and can lead to serious injury, equipment damage, downtime, and investigation costs.
✅ The right protection could have prevented it.
A Pipetite Pre-Sure™ Cap is designed to help control pressure release safely, reducing risk to people and plant.
💡 In pressurised systems, the question isn’t if something can go wrong, it’s whether you’ve put the right safeguards in place before it does.
If you’re working with hygienic flow systems, pipework, or pressurised lines, this is one simple upgrade that can make a major difference.
📩 Want to know which Pipetite Pre-Sure™ Cap is right for your set-up? Contact us, and we’ll point you in the right direction. 📞01675 620914 📧sales@industrialtradingsolutions.com
💻 Take a look at the Pipetite Pre-Sure™ Cap™ on ITS Lite 🛒 – available to purchase directly online, along with all other Pipetite® products: SHOP | ITS Lite
For engineers and operations managers, efficiency isn’t just a target – it’s a KPI. Product losses in pipelines, extended CIP cycles, and lengthy changeovers directly impact yield, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, and operating costs.
LIAG® LÄUFER International AG pigging system integrates into your process line to safely recover residual product, pushing it back into production before cleaning begins.💡The result? Higher yield, reduced waste, and faster turnaround between batches.
Across food, beverage, dairy, cosmetics, chemical, and other liquid processing industries, pigging technology can:
• Recover up to 99% of product from pipelines
• Reduce product giveaway and effluent load
• Shorten cleaning and changeover times
• Lower water and CIP chemical consumption
• Improve OEE and overall line performance
It’s a practical engineering solution that delivers measurable ROI while supporting sustainability targets.
If you’re reviewing process optimisation opportunities, or you’d like to explore pigging for product recovery AND asset protection, ITS can help you assess suitability and ROI using LIAG® hygienic pigging systems. 🐷
Ensuring beer clarity, stability, and shelf life demands uncompromising filtration performance, but monitoring filtration systems with conventional dual-angle sensors (90° + 25°) can be a major cost factor.
That’s why a new test carried out in collaboration with a brewery in the Netherlands compared the ITM-4DW turbidity sensor against a competitor’s more expensive dual-angle device.
✅ The result? Both sensors performed equally in every test.
With filtered beer, both delivered a correct flat line
When changes were introduced (yeast, PVPP, silica gel/diatomaceous earth), both sensors reliably detected deflections in the measurement curves
📌 Conclusion for finished product filtration monitoring:
The tests confirm that in many monitoring applications, the ITM-4 turbidity sensor is equivalent to dual-angle sensors, while being significantly more cost-effective.
📖 Read the Case Study to discover where this solution can benefit your brewery customers: Click here
Mixing should be simple… but it’s often where production problems start.
At Industrial Trading Solutions (ITS), we work alongside Vak Kimsa to help manufacturers improve mixing performance in hygienic industries like food & beverage, brewery, dairy, pharma and home care.
Here are some of the most common mixing issues we help solve 👇
🔹 Inconsistent batches – uneven mixing affecting quality, texture or performance
🔹 Powder clumping – poor wetting, slow dissolving, stubborn lumps
🔹 Separation problems – unstable emulsions or products settling over time
🔹 Hard-to-clean systems – improving hygienic design and reducing CIP time
🔹 Over-shearing / overheating – protecting product integrity
🔹 Downtime & wrong spec – ensuring the right mixer is selected and sized properly
When mixing is done properly, you don’t just improve quality – you improve efficiency, reliability and cost control too.
If you’re battling mixing issues or planning a new line, feel free to message us – we’ll be happy to help. 📞01675 620914 | 📧 sales@industrialtradingsolutions.com
We hope everyone has had a fantastic start to the year and that 2026 brings many more exciting opportunities! ✨
Check out how we’ve hit the ground running at ITS in our ITS Flow Time Newsletter – January 2026. From the latest updates to insights on fluid handling & hygienic processing technology, there’s plenty to explore: https://tinyurl.com/4uwub2v5
Did you know that choosing the right filtration solution starts with your particles?
Selecting a filter isn’t just a hardware choice – it’s a process decision.
Hard, soft, gel-like, fibrous and abrasive particles all behave differently under flow, pressure and shear.
Misread that behaviour, and the results are familiar:
Clogging
Premature wear
Unstable or inefficient operation
Understanding what’s actually moving through your system is the first step to getting filtration right.
You don’t have to solve this alone.
HiFlux brings decades of application know-how to help de-risk filtration choices before they impact production. It’s about understanding the process, asking the right questions, and matching the solution to real operating conditions – not guesswork.
Yes, we supply filters – but more importantly, we help customers solve real production challenges.
That starts with listening. Understanding the process. And finding the right solution, together.
Well-maintained pipework doesn’t just support hygiene and performance, it saves money by reducing failures, downtime and premature replacement. A few smart habits can make a big difference.
Correct cleaning
Use CIP regimes that are effective without being excessive. Over-cleaning or incorrect parameters can accelerate wear just as much as under-cleaning.
Avoid chemical incompatibility Ensure cleaning chemicals, concentrations and temperatures are compatible with your pipework material and seals to prevent corrosion and degradation.
Early leak detection Small leaks often signal seal wear or joint issues. Catching them early prevents product loss, contamination risk and costly repairs.
Choose the right seals Seal material selection is critical. The wrong elastomer can fail quickly under product, temperature or cleaning conditions.
Set the right servicing frequency Service intervals should reflect usage, product type and cleaning intensity – not just the calendar.
🔹 At Industrial Trading Solutions (ITS), we help manufacturers protect their hygienic pipework and flow systems with the right components, advice and support. 📞01675 620914 | 📧sales@industrialtradingsolutions.com
Small maintenance decisions today can prevent costly issues tomorrow.
In high-throughput production environments, efficiency is everything. Lines are pushed hard to meet demand, downtime is costly, and there’s little room for error — particularly in hygienic industries such as food, beverage and pharmaceuticals.
A well-structured maintenance schedule helps protect uptime, product quality and compliance, without slowing production.
💡Why maintenance planning matters in high-throughput operations
When production volumes are high, equipment wear accelerates across the entire process. Valves cycle continuously, pumps work harder, seals degrade faster and heat exchangers operate under sustained thermal and cleaning loads. Without a proactive maintenance approach, minor issues can quickly escalate into costly failures.
A clear maintenance schedule helps to:
Reduce unplanned downtime
Extend equipment lifespan
Maintain hygienic integrity
Support audit and compliance requirements
Improve overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
🔎Identify your critical process equipment
Not all equipment carries the same level of risk. Begin by identifying components that are critical to both production continuity and hygiene, including:
Hygienic valves and valve seats
Pumps and mechanical seals
Heat exchangers
Pipework, fittings and connections
IBC transfer points and connectors
These components are fundamental to maintaining safe, consistent product flow and should form the backbone of any maintenance plan.
🧠Understand how equipment is used
Maintenance schedules should reflect real operating conditions, not just calendar intervals.
Consider:
Operating hours and cycle frequency
Product characteristics (viscosity, abrasiveness, temperature sensitivity)
Cleaning intensity and CIP/SIP frequency
Pressure and temperature fluctuations
Equipment exposed to aggressive products or frequent cleaning will require closer monitoring — regardless of its age.
🔧Build maintenance into planned downtime
In high-throughput environments, maintenance must be efficient and well coordinated.
Best practice includes:
Aligning inspections with scheduled shutdowns or changeovers
Combining maintenance checks with CIP cycles
Preparing spare parts and service kits in advance
This approach reduces disruption while ensuring critical checks are not missed.
💭Focus on wear and hygiene-critical components
Many failures start with relatively small components. Seals, gaskets, elastomers and connection points are often the first to show wear and can directly impact both hygiene and performance.
A robust maintenance schedule should include:
Routine inspection and replacement of seals and gaskets
Visual checks for damage, corrosion or residue build-up
Verification of correct materials for product and cleaning chemicals
Proactive attention to these areas helps prevent contamination risks and extends equipment life.
Keep clear records
In regulated industries, documentation is essential. Maintenance records provide traceability, support audits and help identify recurring issues.
Your schedule should capture:
Inspection and service history
Parts replacement records
Observations and corrective actions
Review points to refine maintenance intervals
Over time, this information becomes a valuable tool for continuous improvement.
📖 Review and improve over time
A maintenance schedule should evolve alongside your production line. Changes in throughput, product mix or cleaning regimes can all affect maintenance needs.
Regular reviews allow you to:
Optimise inspection frequencies
Reduce recurring failures
Improve spare parts planning
Lower total maintenance costs
🔹Supporting reliable production
At Industrial Trading Solutions (ITS), we support manufacturers with hygienic flow equipment solutions — from valves and pumps to fittings, IBC connections and heat exchangers — designed for demanding, high-throughput environments.
A balanced, well-managed maintenance schedule keeps every part of your process working together. In high-throughput production, consistency, hygiene and reliability all depend on it.
Boost uptime. Cut waste. Transform your dairy operations.
At Industrial Trading Solutions Ltd. (ITS), as the UK Master Distributor for Alfa Laval, we’re excited to introduce Alfa Laval Extend™ – a revolutionary, plug-and-play accessory for plate heat exchangers.
🔹 What is it? Alfa Laval Extend™ is designed specifically for the dairy industry to tackle one of the biggest challenges in pasteurisation – biofilm build-up. This innovative electrical pod connects to the inlet and outlet pipes of the heat exchanger, sending a weak current through the plate pack. The result? Bacteria can’t attach to the plates. No chemicals. No coatings. No product contact.
🔹 The benefits:
✅ Reduces biofilm build-up by up to 99%
✅ Extends cleaning intervals by up to 50% – from 8 to 12 hours
✅ Boosts uptime and productivity
✅ Cuts water usage and wastewater generation
✅ Lowers energy and chemical consumption
✅ Easy to install – no production disruption
🔹 Proven results
One of Scandinavia’s largest dairy producers has already seen uptime increase by 50% with Alfa Laval Extend™, alongside substantial reductions in water and energy use.
🌍 With water scarcity and sustainability high on the agenda, Alfa Laval Extend™ helps dairy plants push their CIP limits while reducing environmental impact.
When it comes to pasteurisation, meeting food safety standards isn’t optional – it’s critical. A wide range of legal and normative requirements apply across food and beverage production, including:
PMO (Pasteurised Milk Ordinance)
HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
EU food safety regulations
DIN EN ISO 22000
FSSC 2200
IFS Food 8
3-A / EHEDG hygiene standards
💡That’s where Anderson-Negele instrumentation makes the difference.
Designed specifically for hygienic applications, Anderson-Negele solutions support compliance with global food safety regulations and are supplied with the relevant certifications, including M-b, 3-A, EHEDG, DIN ISO 9001, CE and CRN – giving you confidence in both performance and audit readiness.
If you’re looking to strengthen your pasteurisation control, monitoring and recording processes, we’ve got something worth reading.
Servicing & Maintenance: Start the Year with an Equipment Check
A new year is the perfect time to ensure your hygienic flow equipment is functioning as it should. Regular servicing and preventative maintenance help protect product quality, reduce unplanned downtime and keep you audit-ready.
🔧Valves, pumps, seals and connections all experience wear over time. Left unchecked, this can lead to leaks, contamination risks and reduced process efficiency – often at the worst possible moment.
Starting the year with a planned equipment check allows you to:
• Identify wear before it becomes a failure
• Maintain hygienic integrity across your process
• Extend the life of critical equipment
• Support ongoing compliance with hygiene standards
🔹At Industrial Trading Solutions (ITS), we help manufacturers keep hygienic flow systems performing safely and reliably, because prevention is always better than disruption.
Hygiene regulations across food, beverage and pharmaceutical manufacturing are becoming more demanding year on year. What was once considered “good practice” is now the minimum requirement, and manufacturers are under increasing pressure to demonstrate not just compliance, but long-term control of hygiene risks.
Future-proofing production is no longer about reacting to audits or regulatory updates. It’s about building hygienic flow systems that are designed to meet today’s standards — and adaptable enough for tomorrow’s.
🔎Why hygiene expectations are rising
Global supply chains, stricter enforcement, and heightened consumer awareness have driven regulators and certification bodies to tighten requirements. Standards and frameworks such as DIN EN ISO 22000, FSSC 2200, IFS Food, and guidance from organisations like European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG) and the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) increasingly focus on:
Hygienic system design, not just individual components
Cleanability and full drainability
Material compatibility and surface finish
Risk reduction through design, not procedural workarounds
The message is clear: hygiene must be engineered into the process from the start.
💧Hygienic flow equipment: the foundation of compliance
Pipes, valves, pumps, fittings and process connections form the backbone of any production line. If these elements are not hygienically designed, even the best cleaning regimes and quality systems can fall short.
Modern hygienic flow equipment helps manufacturers reduce contamination risk by:
Eliminating dead legs and stagnation points
Supporting effective CIP and SIP processes
Using certified materials and surface finishes
Maintaining consistent product flow and integrity
As regulations tighten, these design details move from “nice to have” to essential.
❗The hidden risks of outdated systems
Legacy flow systems are often one of the biggest barriers to compliance. Common issues include:
Inadequate drainability leading to product residue
Seals and connections that degrade or trap bacteria
Non-standard components with limited documentation
Systems designed before current hygienic guidelines existed
While these systems may still function operationally, they often struggle to meet modern audit and validation expectations.
📝Designing for long-term hygiene and flexibility
Future-proof manufacturers are increasingly taking a system-level approach when reviewing or upgrading their flow equipment.
Key considerations include:
🔹Hygienic design standards
Selecting equipment designed in line with EHEDG and 3A principles ensures cleanability, inspectability and regulatory confidence.
🔹Material and surface quality
High-grade stainless steel, appropriate elastomers and controlled surface roughness play a critical role in reducing microbial risk and extending equipment life.
🔹Modular, upgrade-ready systems
Flexible, standardised components allow systems to be adapted as processes change or regulations evolve — without major rework.
🔹Documentation and certification
Clear material traceability and supporting certification simplify audits and customer approvals, reducing administrative burden.
🔹Supporting critical processes
From raw material handling through to pasteurisation, filling and transfer, hygienic flow equipment directly influences product safety and quality. As scrutiny around these processes increases, robust system design becomes a key differentiator between reactive compliance and confident control.
🔹Building resilience into your production
Future-proofing production doesn’t mean overcomplicating it. It means making informed choices about the equipment that carries your product every day. Hygienically designed flow components reduce risk, improve cleanability, and help manufacturers stay ahead of regulatory change.
💡At Industrial Trading Solutions (ITS), we support manufacturers with hygienic flow equipment solutions designed for food, beverage, pharmaceutical and other regulated industries — helping build systems that are compliant, efficient and ready for the future.
As hygiene regulations continue to evolve, the strongest position is one of preparedness. The right flow equipment today can protect your production for years to come.
