Future Proofing Retort Rooms Results in Capacity and Productivity Improvements

Future Proofing Retort Rooms Results in Capacity and Productivity Improvements plus Decreases in Operating Costs

Serious challenges converge on today’s canneries. They face the ongoing evolution of containers, increasingly stringent food safety legislation and regulatory compliance initiatives, and emphasis on water usage reduction combined with the need to reduce operating expenses, improve efficiency, and increase capacity in existing footprints.

While the average life of a retort is 20 years, with some remaining in use for as long as 50 years, canneries can benefit from incremental improvements – making only those capital investments that make the most sense given the unique environment of the business. Instead of facing the daunting process of a complete upgrade, the cannery makes smaller investments in such areas as dual mode batch processing, food safety improvement through control upgrade, energy and water conservation that lead to reduced costs, and retort room automation that frees up labor for more value added work. These improvements can pave the way for facilities to extend the life of the cannery with highly efficient and cost effective investments. There are four areas to consider when looking for incremental improvements that support future proofing a retort room.