Raw Material Receiving and Storage

An exploding market for meal kits demanded an upgrade to Blue Apron’s southwest operation. Food Plant Engineering built-out the first 50,000 square feet of the original operation and was asked to look at expanding it once again. The plant was originally conceived to produce meal kits with primarily manual means, but market demand grew to a point that only additional space and automation could address.

This project required not only a creative design mindset, but a thorough understanding of a unique operation that combines manufacturing with traditional ecommerce within the same building and business. FPE project managers were given a rough concept layout from Blue Apron’s startup team. We were able to improve upon the concept to create additional space for incoming materials, reduce travel distance for the product flow, improve the hygienic environment to produce the meal portions, and reduce the space needed for employee amenities.  

Producing meal kits that contain ingredients that differ from week to week creates the need for adaptable storage. Our firm was able to work with Blue Apron’s plant management to devise a flexible storage and space plan to accommodate their needs. Containers, packages and pallets of all shapes and sizes needed to be stored. In addition to the large number of SKUs, Blue Apron’s raw materials have very high turns as these are typically not stored for more than a week. Temperature needs within this area range wildly as well, so flexibility is also necessary regarding freezers, coolers and temperature/humidity controlled dry ingredient storage.

Growth & Flexibility

In addition to a flexible storage plan, the production environment needed extreme flexibility to produce the large variety of SKUs needed. Though automation is typically well-suited for mass producing the same type of products in large quantities, our firm was able to help devise a strategy to implement targeted work cell automation. This allows for flexibility in production while reducing the workforce requirements.  

Processing Environment

This facility’s hygienic environment is critical, as a variety of food types are portioned from bulk ingredients into individual packages for assembly in mail order cases. Our design team determined that the operation should be separated into two basic room types, depending on the type of products being produced and packaged. One room type is a cooled low-humidity dry room, and the other is a refrigerated wet wash-down room. The vegetable processing operation required a cold and wet environment; the grains and spices needed a dry and cool environment, and the oils and liquids required a cool wash down environment. Our firm was able to position these different types of spaces into a layout that created a productive and hygienic work environment. In addition, many bins are utilized in the operation for the transporting of work-in-process. A plan for installing an automatic wash system was devised by our firm and added into the operations workflow to keep a circulation of clean bins available for use.  

Significant collaboration between Blue Apron’s team and our firm’s designers was necessary to achieve the correct balance in processing areas. Our team learned the process flow of this operation, was willing to consider space tradeoffs, and designed in tight spaces. We were engaged in the entire process from start to finish. 

Packaging, Cold Storage and Shipping

The facility needed a way to increase the rate at which meal kits are packaged into shipping cartons. The original system involved mostly manual assembly line style packing and sorting. In order to automate this operation, our firm worked with a vendor that provided an automated pick-to-light style system and automatic sorting and slotting for the finished cartons. This system was installed while maintaining ongoing packing and shipping operations.

Project Overview

With the goal of producing donuts in a central facility for their network of franchise stores, a group of  owners reached out to FPE to build out a former storage facility. Although the 31,000 sq. ft. building once housed a food warehousing operation, significant infrastructural upgrades had to be made to accommodate a commercial baking process as a Dunkin Central Manufacturing Location. Notable among these accommodations were a new plumbing system, the demolition of several coolers/freezers, and upgraded rooftop HVAC equipment.

The project site was landlocked between two neighboring buildings and a decommissioned railroad at the facility’s rear, each within several feet of the property line. With limited space for construction materials and equipment in the parking lot, the scheduling and execution of key phases of facility construction and process installation was critical. Another factor our team had to consider was the facility’s proximity to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, whereby an FAA permit was obtained to lift and install rooftop HVAC units.

All project planning, design, permitting and construction for the project were implemented by FPE.

Commissary Efficiency Today, With Room for Tomorrow

When the health department inspector did a final review of Federal Way Schools new 35,0000 sq. ft. central kitchen, the response was, “Wow. Wow. Wow,” says Mary Asplund, Director of Nutrition Services for Federal Way Schools in Federal Way, WA. Such a reaction was just what Asplund envisioned when she approached Food Plant Engineering about building a commissary to serve her district’s 38 schools and 21,554 students, many with restricted diets. Asplund wanted to avoid the engineering snafus she had encountered while directing an earlier remodeling project for another school district.

Also, sanitation was top priority for the district, so she insisted on involving experts who understand the nuances of cleaning a commissary kitchen. “I knew Food Plant Engineering had been designing USDA food plants. This background and industrial engineering experience was easily transferable to a school environment,” she says. “It was an extremely good fit.”

Asplund notes that the district’s needs are significant, yet administrators have a responsibility “to be good custodians of public dollars.” Thus, practicality was essential in the commissary design. “This kitchen is built out of ordinary materials,” she says. “It’s not a fancy building,” yet every portion is easily cleaned. Utility piping—drops, equipment points, runs—is positioned unobtrusively for optimum sanitizing.

Another bonus? “Despite really, really complicated energy requirements, Food Plant Engineering made it easy to operate,” she says of the kitchen, from the careful placement of each drain to the flow pattern of product and personnel. Mechanical rooms, refrigeration areas and electrical services are ideally located for maintenance. “And we can plug in food carts practically anywhere,” notes Asplund. Extra space was creatively allotted for dry storage, and room for future truck bays for the district’s new mobile feeding busses was also built into the commissary's design. Federal Way’s central kitchen can flex and adapt to multiple applications, says Asplund. “The potential for growth is phenomenal,” she says.

Attention to Food Allergens in Central Kitchen Commissary

"Food Plant Engineering has a special dedication to special diets,” states Asplund. (She shares this commitment. In fact, Asplund was awarded the Food Advocate of the Year Award from the Food Allergy Initiative in 2010 for her efforts in providing custom-made meals for students with food allergies, intolerances and diet restrictions.) In this commissary, preparation areas for custom meals are dedicated, yet streamlined for efficiency. Storage areas are also thoughtfully designed to prevent cross contamination. These areas are sanitized independently from the rest of the building as well.

Why Food Plant Engineering?

Though Food Plant Engineering is based in Cincinnati, Ohio and Federal Way is on the West Coast, the distance “didn’t matter,” says Mary Asplund. The company’s food plant engineers were readily available at all times. “It’s not a large world. Anyone looking to hire Food Plant Engineering should know that they are perfectly postured to travel,” she says.

“Our experience was absolutely phenomenal,” says Asplund. “I do not have one criticism of Food Plant Engineering,” Asplund says, adding, “I couldn’t be happier. We got 100% of what we wanted.”

Facility Expansion for RTE Gourmet Deli Meat

When Ron Ramstad purchased property to expand his Philadelphia facility that produces organic and natural deli products, he interviewed a variety of A/E firms before choosing Food Plant Engineering LLC. Specifically, Ramstad asked to develop master plans and layout improvements for his inner-city operation.

Forward Thinking

He implemented much of the plan, finally deciding to expand the facility to the adjacent property. However, Ramstad opted not to enlist Food Plant Engineering’s help for on-site management of the project. Instead, he kept the firm on as a business representative and consultant. Site complexities and difficulties with a contractor Ramstad hired on his own made the process challenging.

“We didn’t think we needed that,” Ramstad says, and he admits that the decision was difficult. Working with knowledgeable experts is a must in the food plant industry. For Ramstad, finding the professionals suited for his specific problems while he ran his own business became the prerogative.

“People like us: we don’t do this every day,” Ramstad says. “So you need people who know what they’re doing.”

Trusted Consultant

FPE understands that a business owner has a lot on their plate when it comes to managing their own daily operations. Alongside A/E design services and construction oversite, FPE can help owners via consultation on a variety of different contractor needs.

Despite the challenges Ramstad faced, the expansion project finished on time and on budget. Those involved in the day-to-day operations of the facility “love it,” says Ramstad. “It’s changed the whole appearance of the company. Overall, it changes from being a shack in the corner to a beautiful building.”

Why Food Plant Engineering?

“Anyone can design, but keeping people accountable, that’s where you’re really good,” Ramstad says of the FPE team. Food Plant Engineering’s professionals are “fair, professional and accessible,” he says. “You can adapt quick. You respond quick. That’s your strength.”

Would he recommend Food Plant Engineering? “Oh, I do!” Ramstad says. “All the time.”

Project Overview

One of the largest bulk CBD suppliers in the U.S. approached FPE about designing and building their new production facility. After an initial feasibility study for process and facility requirements and the review of multiple existing building shells in which to house the new operation was completed, our firm implemented the design and construction for the project. The facility encompassed 125,000 sf for offices, raw and finished goods warehousing, hemp processing (pre-extraction, extraction, winterization, crystallization, remediation), purification, filling, and packaging.

The project involved many high-hazard, classified rooms due to various solvents involved in the process. FPE provided process P&IDs based on the client’s input, as well as architecture and engineering for the following, electric systems, backup generator, chilled water systems, air handling/ventilation systems, CO2 delivery system, natural gas distribution, process sewers, boilers, hot water system, compressed air, and exhaust air treatment.

Project planning, design, permitting, and construction for the project was implemented by FPE.

Flexibility for Growth

Creating and launching a new product in the food industry is an enormous undertaking. Once the product has been formulated and produced in a pilot plant, the process and production must be scaled up to meet the growing demands of consumers. Gathered Foods needed Food Plant Engineering’s food processing design and construction expertise to incorporate their proprietary vegan tuna process into their first large-scale, hygienic operation. Our team knew how to visualize the facility from start to finish and designed each space—from production to packaging—based upon not only the company’s current needs but on their anticipated growth. This project required a great deal of collaboration, as Gathered Foods looked to us for help sourcing equipment and meeting regulatory standards. We strived to maintain the unique integrity of their process and meet their overall needs.

To accommodate a growing business and a rapidly changing market, FPE allocated space in the facility design to allow for quadrupling the capacity of Gathered Food’s proprietary process and supporting processes, including freezing, mixing, forming, and packaging. The space was allocated to allow for the installation of additional processing equipment without expanding the footprint of the building. The layout can be adapted different production methods as new markets for vegan products arise. Opportunities for further building expansion were also considered when the existing space becomes fully utilized.

Food Processing and Packaging

While the core process for manufacturing Gathered Foods’ products is proprietary, Food Plant Engineering was responsible for integrating into the design the supporting food processing steps necessary to transform the initial product into its final form. After the propriety process—during which dry ingredients are transformed into the moist base product that replicates real tuna flakes—the flakes are processed using traditional food production methods to manufacture various products, including patties. Equipment used to produce the final products includes paddle mixers, vacuum fillers, plate formers, spiral freezers, and tunnel freezers. Patties are packaged in either a vertical form, fill, and seal machine or a horizontal form, fill, and seal machine. The secondary packaging includes carton and case formers and sealers. Metal detectors and checkweighers are used throughout the different stages of the process for food safety purposes. 

Facility Development

When developing a facility design, it is important to plan for the location of mechanical rooms, shipping/receiving docks, and utility entrances. These areas are difficult (if not impossible) to move if the building needs an expansion in the future. The location of these areas must be coordinated with other process support areas such as locker and break rooms, offices, chemical storage, and lab spaces. All areas must then connect with each other and the processing functions to allow for the flow of personnel, equipment, and trash in the facility. Often the solution for accomplishing this is to develop well-placed corridors for connecting the spaces. This project utilized a central corridor to separate hygienic zones, provide access to docks and mechanical areas, allow for the move-in of future equipment, and provide a connection for a future building addition. Knockout panels were added to the corridor for future freezers. Numerous gowning areas were placed along the corridor for employees to wash hands and put on PPE before entering more hygienic zones.

Flexible Lab Facilities

Research and development (R&D) and quality assurance (QA) labs were incorporated into the facility. The R&D lab was built as a multi-use space for product development, incorporating areas for food preparation, cooking, baking, and packaging operations. The QA lab was planned to allow for basic operations for sample retention and analysis. Using similar materials as the process areas, FPE constructed both spaces to comply with food safety standards. Added storage and open counterspace allow for flexibility as the business explores new products and continues to grow.

Project Management

Food Plant Engineering provided Project Management support for both the design and construction of the Gathered Foods facility. During the design phase, a Project Manager worked closely with the architectural and engineering teams to monitor the schedule. Weekly meetings with the owner were held to discuss the company’s needs, desires, and the requirements for the final design of the facility. Once the design was complete, the Construction Manager worked on-site directing the construction process and communicating with stakeholders regarding the budget and expenditures for construction.  

Process Feed Systems, Process Utilities and Dewatering for Guggisberg Processing Facility

A significant increase in the production of cheese created a need to increase the whey handling system capacity by 15-20 percent in order to concentrate whey, the primary byproduct of cheese production. The total solids in whey average approximately six percent after it is drained from the vats during the process of curd production. This whey can be further concentrated by removing the water, thus increasing the solid content. A new evaporator was installed to increase the solids to 32-45 percent, depending on downstream product needs. Significant cost and disruption were prevented when Food Plant Engineering’s team devised a way to install the evaporator within the existing facility structure.  

In order to implement this project, the existing evaporator needed to remain in operation while the new evaporator was installed. The plan also needed to allow for changeover of the production feed system to the new evaporator without disrupting production after the evaporator installation. The owner originally thought that a completely new building was needed to house the evaporator. However, working collaboratively with the manufacturer and the Guggisberg team, our firm was able to devise a way to install the new evaporator inside of the existing structure, and create an addition only for the fans, motor, and an electrical VFD control room.  

Utilizing this approach allowed for a streamlined changeover for the product feed system and evaporator utility feed. The downstream product HTST system was also replaced to add pasteurizing capacity for the increased volume of concentrate being produced from the new evaporator. 

To read more about our work with Guggisberg Cheese, see our whey expansion and evaporator installation project here.

Wastewater

The large volume of water generated as a result of concentrating the whey is commonly called “cow water.” This water can be recycled or reused, thereby reducing the demand for fresh water in the plant. The storage system for this water was enlarged and reconfigured to accommodate the increased production of cow water. Typical uses in the plant for this water is CIP pre-rinse and make-up water for the cooling and heating system.

Process Feed Systems, Process Utilities and Dewatering for Guggisberg Cheese Whey Processing

A significant increase in the production of cheese created a need to increase the Guggisberg Cheese whey processing handling system capacity by 15-20 percent in order to concentrate whey, the primary byproduct of cheese production. The total solids in whey average approximately six percent after it is drained from the vats during the process of curd production. This whey can be further concentrated by removing the water, thus increasing the solid content. A new evaporator was installed to increase the solids to 32-45 percent, depending on downstream product needs. Significant cost and disruption were prevented when Food Plant Engineering’s team devised a way to install the evaporator within the existing facility structure.  

In order to implement the Guggisberg Cheese whey processing project, the existing evaporator needed to remain in operation while the new evaporator was installed. The plan also needed to allow for changeover of the production feed system to the new evaporator without disrupting production after the evaporator installation. The owner originally thought that a completely new building was needed to house the evaporator. However, working collaboratively with the manufacturer and the Guggisberg Cheese team, our firm was able to devise a way to install the new evaporator inside of the existing structure, and create an addition only for the fans, motor, and an electrical VFD control room.  

Utilizing this approach allowed for a streamlined changeover for the product feed system and evaporator utility feed. The downstream product HTST system was also replaced to add pasteurizing capacity for the increased volume of concentrate being produced from the new evaporator. 

To read more about our work with Guggisberg Cheese, check out our facility expansion project with them here.

Whey Processing Wastewater Recycling

The large volume of water generated as a result of concentrating the whey is commonly called “cow water” (EcoLab PDF regarding best practices for cow water). This water can be recycled or reused, thereby reducing the demand for fresh water in the plant. The storage system for this water was enlarged and reconfigured to accommodate the increased production of cow water. Typical uses in the plant for this water is CIP pre-rinse and make-up water for the cooling and heating system.

Project Overview

To meet increasing demand, this ready-to-eat protein division of a large international company selected FPE to design and construct an expansion at one of their facilities. The project was phased to keep the plant in operation during the construction. The project involved adding two high-volume, automated processing lines that required a 25,000 sf renovation and expansion of this 95,000 sf operating facility.

Additional circulation space and shipping docks were added as part of the upgrades. Two new automated grinding, forming, cooking, freezing, and packaging lines were also added to the facility. Major infrastructure upgrades included capacity and distribution additions for ammonia refrigeration, natural gas, steam and condensate, water heating, compressed air, and electric systems.

All project planning, design, permitting and construction for the project were implemented by FPE.

Project Overview

After a fire destroyed production capacity at one of their cooked meat facilities, a division of a large North American company turned to FPE for help regaining the lost production. The feasibility of rebuilding the fire-damaged facility and additional options were examined. As a result, the decision was made to implement a major upgrade to this legacy manufacturing facility.

A phased plan was developed to install two new cook lines in the building. The first phase involved installing a high-capacity cook line by carving out 15,000 sf inside of the facility for the automated meat grinding, forming, cooking, freezing, and packaging line. The project required significant infrastructure upgrades to support the two additional cooking lines. A new ammonia refrigeration system, steam boiler, water heater, natural gas service and distribution, electric service and distribution, oven exhaust system and treatment, and wastewater treatment were added alongside upgrades to existing infrastructure systems.

All project planning, design, permitting and construction for the project were implemented by FPE.