*Take a walk through your plant.
*Look down at the gaskets.
*Do they match? Are they in good condition? Are they where they should be—or worse, are some on the floor?
If your answer isn’t a confident yes to all of those (except to being on the floor), it’s time for a hard truth:
A lack of gasket control is a sign of deeper systemic failures.
When your facility has a random assortment of gasket colors, types, conditions, and cleanliness, especially without documentation or a defined replacement program, you’re opening the door to:
– Product contamination and food safety violations
– Equipment inefficiencies and premature wear
– Human safety risks from blowouts or chemical leaks
– Recalls and product failures that could’ve been prevented
Gasket management isn’t just a maintenance task, it’s a GMP issue, a sanitation issue, a procurement issue, a training issue, a change management issue, and a leadership issue.
The solution starts with a simple mindset shift:
– Standardize your sourcing on the vendor and materials of construction
– Train your teams to inspect and replace proactively
– Make it clear that this isn’t optional, it’s part of strong operations
When you explain why this matters, set crystal-clear expectations, and invite your team to flag issues and offer improvements, something powerful happens:
Your people rise, they take ownership, they act, and they prevent failures instead of reacting to them.
Most importantly, when they do, congratulate them on a job well done!
This is an AI generated image.
#FoodSafety #PreventativeMaintenance #OperationalDiscipline #RecallPrevention #ManufacturingExcellence #LeadershipMatters
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