Case Studies

Bringing Consistency and Ownership to a Sanitation Program

2 minute read

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A meat processor didn’t know where to begin to transform its outsourced sanitation program to an internally governed model. The Catena Solutions team stepped in, assessing sanitation practices at 17 plants to identify gaps and inconsistencies. Armed with new insights, the company is now working towards a culture of accountability that will bring fewer sanitation-related production delays, stronger QA visibility, and improved collaboration between sanitation and production teams.

Project at a Glance

• 17-Plant Assessment: Evaluated sanitation practices across North America
• Sanitation Program Gaps: Identified risks, inconsistencies, and capability gaps
• Internal Ownership: Defined a path to reduce reliance on third-party providers
• Standardization Roadmap: Recommended improvements to roles, processes, and accountability

The Challenge: How Can a Manufacturer Improve an Outsourced Sanitation Program?

The client, which operates 17 production facilities across North America, was struggling with its sanitation program. The program was largely outsourced, creating inconsistent practices, limited visibility, and little internal ownership. Key pain points included:

• No standard operating procedures (SOPs) or centralized oversight
• Overreliance on external vendors
• Operational inefficiencies, including delays, turnover issues, and poor reporting
• Cultural disconnect and lack of accountability

The Solution: Assessing Sanitation Program Gaps Across 17 Plants

The company partnered with Catena Solutions to identify program gaps as a first step. This phase focused on a current state assessment, including:

• Conducting site visits and interviews at key facilities.
• Observing sanitation practices across shifts and reviewing documentation, including clean-in-place (CIP) processes, equipment change control, environmental monitoring (EMP) sampling, allergen changeover procedures, chemical usage and storage practices, and technology applications.
• Evaluating skills and capabilities of sanitation associates.
• Identifying systemic risks, inefficiencies, skill gaps, and cultural barriers.

Key findings and recommendations included:

• Cultural resistance: We proposed a communication and training strategy to shift the mindset toward internal ownership of sanitation across the organization.
• Lack of structure: Using an existing site’s organizational model, we redesigned roles and responsibilities to feature SOPs, leadership, and accountability.
• Workflow inefficiencies: Cleaning cycle times were undefined, leading to delays. We recommended engineering standards to formalize expectations and improve coordination between sanitation and production.
• Data integrity: The sanitation provider’s reports were inaccurate and corrective actions were generic. QA had also begun independently tracking cleaning times. We proposed transitioning QA to a verification role and improving inspection calibration.

The consultant’s 20+ years of experience leading sanitation transformations in food manufacturing was critical to the project’s success. Having previously transitioned a sanitation program from third-party to internal ownership, they knew what would and wouldn’t work.

Our team was able to quickly pinpoint root causes of inefficiency and non-compliance, adapt best practices from high-performing plants into scalable solutions, and build credibility with site teams by speaking from lived experience.

The Benefit: How Did the Assessment Improve Sanitation Program Visibility & Ownership?

The immediate value our work delivered:

• Alignment across leadership and plant teams
• Insights into risks, skill gaps, and process inconsistencies
• Momentum for change and strong stakeholder engagement
• Setting up for Phase 2: Designing and building the framework

Future results the client can expect to see also include reduced sanitation-related production delays, increased QA visibility, and even stronger cross-functional collaboration and ownership of sanitation outcomes. Ready to improve your sanitation program? Contact us today.

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