Confidential Client | Confidential Location
Making the leap to organic production and handling can help access new customers and markets. But making this transition requires significant planning and time due to the strict regulatory compliance required for a product to be considered organic. Our client was ready to introduce a new organic, refrigerated, ready-to-eat (RTE) product to their product line. However, they needed to design and construct the facility for this product without disrupting their existing food manufacturing operations.
Merrick provided full-service design and construction services for a fast-track project to introduce our client’s new organic RTE product while minimizing disruptions within their existing working food manufacturing facility. The launch of a new, organic product required extensive facilities and process modifications within an operating facility. In addition, increased hygiene and GMP protocols for the organic product were necessary, which included the construction of a new elevated mixing deck and filler enclosure within an operational GMP space.
Although the timeline for the project was aggressive and the design packages were overlapped with procurement and construction activities, our team ensured all construction was GMP compliant and executed with minimal disruptions to the client’s existing food manufacturing operations. Such major construction activities inside an existing GMP environment required our team to coordinate extensive planning for staging; segregation; and training of all construction staff on GMP regulations. To meet the aggressive project timelines, our team released early work packages to start long-lead equipment and building facilities procurement as detailed engineering design was completed. We also sequenced the design work to support meeting the construction timelines for the project. These efforts kept the project on schedule—piping and instrumentation diagrams were completed in June and the product was in containers by the end of January of the following year.
Our team provided comprehensive design and construction services, including:
- GMP Architecture
- GMP Detailed Engineering
- Hygienic Process Design
- Clean in Place (CIP) Detailed Design
- HVAC
- Electrical Power Distribution Engineering
- Controls Integration
- Construction Services
- Commissioning