Tropico understands better than most businesses that when sugar dries, it sticks to everything. This can make cleaning the equipment a challenge without the right type of cleaning product.
Since 1961, Tropico Fruits has produced juices, purees, and concentrates from tropical fruits grown in Australia’s Sunshine state of Queensland, with their products favoured across the country.
They locally source their mangoes, guavas, passion fruits, pineapples, figs, and strawberries, transforming them into what is called ‘stabilised fruit prep’ in the industry. This mixture becomes the flavouring that goes into food products such as yoghurt, syrups, cookies, smoothies, and ice cream.
Recently, the company has expanded its business centred around food preparation. This prompted them to look for environmentally friendly cleaning processes, with the aim of going green from the top down.
Tropico’s machines often run for 18 hours a day in the production area so the cleaning process can be extensive and harsh. The sugars, in combination with solvents and detergents erode metals and can damage components such as roller bearings, threatening to cause breakdowns and extended downtime.
“We needed a parts cleaning solution that would eliminate any risk of chemical exposure to our site workers and be able to accommodate the volume and load capacity we require to meet our workshop needs,” says Dean Carter, Maintenance Supervisor for Tropico.
With this in mind, Dave Harwood, a Technical Sales Representative at the CBC branch in Namboor, stepped in to offer the CRC SmartWasher solution to Tropico.
Tropico uses the SmartWasher machine in the process of cleaning machine parts to remove the sugar build ups that naturally occur on their conveyor applications.
The CRC SmartWasher uses a bio-remediating formula, called OzzyJuice® to clean grease and oil removed from parts. The OzzyMat® Filter transfers fresh microbes to the OzzyJuice® cleaner and trap particulates preventing them from contaminating the OzzyJuice® solution.
“It eats away the sugars and brings up our parts pristine. In many cases they work better than standard products,” says Dean.
Using SmartWasher, Tropico has also eliminated another risk, Dean explains.
“We have eliminated the fire risk that using solvent-based cleaning baths posed. The CRC bioremediation technology has removed the cost to filter and helped us dispose of solvents on site. We can move the SmartWasher around the site easily by unplugging it and rolling it around. The castors lock it stationary. This allows for proactive maintenance.”
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