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Food & Beverage account managers make
many of their service calls at night, when
customers’ sanitation crews are busy cleaning
production lines, vats, tanks and processing
pipelines. The number of calls they make varies
greatly. For example, depending on the size
of an account and its unique needs, a service
call may run anywhere from a couple of
hours, to a full shift, to several days. Account
managers can service some customers
during the day, and also use daytime
hours to call on prospective customers.
Like other Ecolab sales-and-service
representatives, account managers are
accessible by cell phone and are in
frequent contact with ECOlink. They are
also linked to other Food & Beverage
associates by e-mail.
Food & Beverage’s service is designed to help customers
keep their total cleaning costs in line. Account managers help
customers achieve better results and more efficiently manage other components of
the cleaning process, such as labor and water costs. On average, Food & Beverage
services its plant customers monthly – sometimes more often, depending on the
account’s needs. Plant customers typically are dairy, food and beverage processors
and breweries. The following is an example of what a typical monthly service
call entails.
The account manager checks in with the sanitation manager and quality
assurance staff to see whether there are any concerns, or if problems have
surfaced since the last service call. This plant makes frozen pizzas. With its six
lines running, the plant turns out nearly 5 million pizzas per week. Cleaning takes
place from midnight to 8 a.m. The account manager works at this plant during
the entire cleaning shift.
All of the Food & Beverage dispensing equipment is checked to make sure that
it’s functioning properly, that the correct concentration of
product is being dispensed, and that cleaning procedures
are being followed. The account manager checks the
challenging areas – in this case, where there are stubborn
burned-on soils such as cheese and pizza dough.
Product inventory is reviewed to see how much the
customer has been using. This is a checkpoint for
keeping costs in line.
Throughout the night, the account manager works
with the sanitation crew. In addition to this hands-on
training, the account manager periodically conducts more
formal sessions at the plant, covering topics that revolve
around good sanitation practices and product safety.
Using a laptop computer, the account manager
creates a service report. Before leaving the plant in the
morning, the account manger reviews this report with the
sanitation manager, noting findings and any follow-up
that’s needed by Food & Beverage or the customer.
A Food & Beverage Service Call
Food & Beverage
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