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Lifecore Biomedical Increases Production, Yet Avoids SAC Charges

Lifecore Biomedical was looking forward to developing a new family of products in 2002, yet it realized that increasing production also would increase water usage and prompt a considerable SAC payment. Instead of charging full steam ahead the company decided to evaluate its current processes and get them running as efficiently as possible, before increasing production, to minimize future production costs. Because of its complex water system, this would take considerable staff time. Therefore, Lifecore requested help from the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP). MnTAP assigned them a summer intern, a chemical engineering student from the University of Minnesota.

The intern worked closely with Lifecore quality control and maintenance staff, and together they reduced annual water usage by 3.86 million gallons by removing a condensing coil that was no longer needed on a steam generator and repairing water valves on two autoclaves. These system upgrades and repairs saved the company $69,000 a year in water and sewer fees, and will hold back the need to pay additional SAC charges as production increases.