Scenario summary
Airline meal preparation line — the upstream production stage before trolley loading. Hot-pack production trays (the trays meals are plated in for re-heating), prep containers, sauce pans, and packing trays. Volume: 40,000–150,000 meals/day translates to 8,000–30,000 prep trays per day.
The cleaning challenge
Dietary cohort separation is the audit-critical requirement. Halal, Kosher, vegan, Hindu, gluten-free, lactose-free meal lines must demonstrate documented allergen reset between cohorts. Standard IATA / IFSA sanitization plus cohort-specific reset records.
Recommended PTW-1900 setup
Chamber: Standard 750 × 1000 × 1900 mm.
Heating: Electric 70 kW (catering centers typically lack steam loop).
PLC profiles:
- Standard 6-min — daily mixed-meal tray cleaning
- Cohort Reset 8-min — sanitization-only between dietary cohorts (Halal → standard, Kosher → vegan, etc.)
- Allergen Reset 8-min — between allergen-class cohorts (nut, dairy, gluten)
- Heavy 9-min — heavy-protein international meal trays
Documentation: PLC integrates with the catering center’s existing MES (most major catering centers run on SAP, Wonderware, or in-house systems). OPC-UA output.
Expected ROI
- Labour savings: 5 wash workers → 1.5 → ~$120,000 annual
- Audit risk reduction: cohort-reset documentation eliminates the highest-risk audit finding category
- Payback: ~5 months
Airline meal prep FAQ
Q: Half-size ATLAS / KSSU prep trays — chamber fit? A: Standard chamber holds full prep-tray load. Half-size trays nest densely on multi-tier trolleys.
Q: Cohort-reset documentation — what does IFSA require? A: Timestamp + cohort transition + sanitization-cycle log + chemical-dose log + operator audit log. All five export from PTW-1900 PLC.
Q: How do we link cycle logs to specific meal cohort transitions? A: Operator selects PLC profile per cohort transition; profile name (e.g., “Halal→Vegan Reset”) appears in cycle log. Hand-off events are time-stamped and traceable.