Identifying critical control points (CCP) and optimizing process and laboratory instrumentation to the brewing process

World Class Manufacturing Session
Daniel Gore, Anton Paar, Graz, Austria
Co-author(s): Keyvan Ghanaviztchi and Peter Brugger, Anton Paar, Graz, Austria

ABSTRACT: Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP), a mainstay in the food industry, has been used in larger breweries for quite some time and is now a common component of many quality assurance program. Even smaller breweries, always willing to implement new ideas, see the advantages HACCP has to offer as part of a larger quality control program. HACCP is not a stand-alone program and must be combined with good manufacturing practices (GMP), standard operating procedures (SOP), and other measures to create a complete quality assurance program that meshes well with ISO 9001 and just-in-time (JIT) practices. This poster demonstrates the common critical control points in the brewery and how combined process and laboratory instrumentation are used to ensure customer and product safety and quality control while streamlining production. Traditional, periodic inspection and sample testing remain the standards with which all other measurements are compared, forming the base upon which all safety and quality testing stand, and are an absolute must in the brewery. They are, however, not as responsive to real-time, production needs and provide only a snapshot of production. From a public health and safety, quality control, and customer satisfaction point-of-view, static production snapshots alone are not enough. In-line process instrumentation, however, allows for continuous, live process control, augments laboratory testing, and helps fulfill many HACCP principles in a single step. The start of any HACCP program is a flow diagram of the entire brewing process and is specific to the needs of the individual brewery. After the safety and quality hazards have been analyzed, the critical control points are identified and appropriate instrumentation chosen and installed. Once the instrumentation is installed, the remaining HACCP principles follow logically and are straight forward to implement: establish critical limits and enter alarm limits into the instrument control; monitor the critical control points and make process corrections as needed and as they happen; establish corrective action to eliminate production errors at control points and follow through when it is required; keep simple and proper records to monitor quality and production trends; verify that all the criteria are met; and review the results to optimize quality and production. After completing the implementation of a HACCP program and collecting data, optimization begins to streamline production and trim costs. Known issues are fixed, and unknown issues may be identified. What may seem at first a daunting project is actually an organic process that grows with the needs and focus of the company.

Daniel Gore received his B.A. degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, including two years of study in Germany. After graduating in 1995 he returned to Germany and began an apprenticeship as a brewer and maltster at the Lammbrauerei Hilsenbeck. After successfully finishing his apprenticeship he worked in multiple breweries throughout Germany, including the Uerige Obergärige Hausbrauerei and Quenzer Bräu before moving back to the United States to assume the role of head brewer at the Long Trail Brewing Company. In 2006 he changed focus to work as a technical sales representative for Anton Paar, USA and continued to put his 12 years of practical brewing experience to good use serving the beverage industry. During this time Daniel was a member of MBAA and ISA and enjoyed working with local chapters in the Northeast. In 2010 he moved to Graz, Austria, to become Anton Paar GmbH’s application specialist, supporting Anton Paar’s existing applications in the beverage industry, as well as developing new beverage applications and technologies.

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