INDUSTRY: Beverage Manufacturing – Fruit Juices

CUSTOMER: A well-known consumer beverage manufacturer, with multiple processing and bottling facilities located across North America.

BACKGROUND: The customer was using many of Rubber Fab’s FDA Rubber Hoses to transfer juice, corn syrup, peel oil and water during the various process steps, as well as for loading and unloading from storage tanks to road tankers. Although each hose assembly was already fit for purpose and fully compliant with industry standards, the customer experienced excessive wear & tear on the hoses as they lay on the ground and were dragged around the production area. As well as resulting in a shortened service life of each hose assembly, the hoses created additional issues with cleaning procedures (i.e. wash-down water pooling behind the hose, and unable to reach the drain) as well as operator safety (i.e. trip hazards due to low visibility, and handling problems because the hoses were difficult to lift and re-position).

CHALLENGES FACED: Due to the highly flexible layout of the manufacturing process, the customer required all process hoses to be movable depending on the specific recipe and process needs, as well as the location of tankers for loading and unloading of ingredients and finished product. Therefore the use of fixed racking to raise the hose assemblies off the floor would be too restrictive for the customer’s needs, and would significantly reduce manufacturing flexibility as well as increasing production costs.

SOLUTION AND BENEFITS: After discussing the challenges with Rubber Fab’s technical sales team, the Golden Bridge Hose Support System was installed with an easy retro-fit onto existing hoses. The Golden Bridge is a heavy duty, safety yellow, hose support that easily bolts together over any hose or stainless steel piping system. When assembled it creates a series of bridges that elevate the hose off the floor keeping it clean, reducing wear and tear on the cover, and preventing damage to the sanitary end connections. And when it’s time for wash down, the Golden Bridge prevents damming allowing cleaning solutions and wash water to reach the floor drain – a benefit that helps prevent bacterial growth on the hose and keeps the facility fully compliant with the latest food safety requirements. The Rubber Fab Golden Bridge provides safety features that are a must in any active production facility. The open-face “handle” design is easy to grab for hose positioning and the safety yellow coating is not only easy to clean, it is highly visible and durable. Since implementing the Golden Bridge Hose Support System the customer has observed significant improvement in service life from all hose assemblies; has enjoyed better housekeeping with improved wash-down and drainage across the whole production area; and has also reduced the number of operator safety incidents due to improved visibility and better ergonomics.