Storage/Staging: Food-grade mezzanine exceeds sanitary requirements for bottler

Looking to reconfigure and expand its beverage filling and packaging operations, a world leader in the beverage industry installed a new system that uses new and relocated existing equipment. With this design, the company averted business disruption while completing the project on time and budget.

Through the systems integrator, the customer had strict contingencies on non-interference with production routines in their bottling operations. By designing a mezzanine to exact specification, the company sought to create efficient operational space that also suitably represented the customer’s brand.

In the blow-fill process used for this project, plastic bottle pre-forms are shaped into bottles and filled within the same process, with the resulting filled bottles then packaged and stored in bulk for further distribution. Although the operation does not require strict sanitary design in all areas, the customer specified food-grade application guidelines throughout. In particular, they wanted all platforms to be constructed with closed shapes and aluminum decking, and they wanted to incorporate clean surfaces with minimal crevices and catch points in the structure.

The installation also had to stay out of the way of the customer’s employees as they executed their daily work functions. Working jointly with the systems integrator and the customer, all site reviews and installation times were carefully set around production schedules.

Strict space requirements were addressed at the outset of the project. Even though the customer had predetermined the size and location of the mezzanine, several predesign visits to the facility helped designers avoid floor drains and similar concerns. In fact, engineers identified uneven areas in the floor surface during the initial visit, enabling them to design custom columns to accommodate the variations.

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