Sanitary Stainless Steel Fabrication for Hygienic Processing Equipment

Hygienic design for cleanability. Standard structural fabrication tolerates partial-penetration welds, as-welded surfaces, and internal corners. Sanitary fabrication does not: product-contact welds must be full penetration and crevice-free, surfaces must hold a specified Ra roughness, geometry must drain, and every material and weld must be traceable. A weld that would pass a structural code can still harbor biofilm that CIP cycles never reach. That is the failure sanitary fabrication exists to prevent.

Yes. When your drawing or specification invokes 3-A sanitary standards or ASME BPE design requirements, we fabricate to them: full-penetration crevice-free product-contact welds, drainable geometry, specified surface finishes, and the records to prove each one. BPE also defines oxide island acceptance criteria for weld surfaces, and those criteria become part of the inspection plan when BPE governs. Tell us the governing standard during quoting and the traveler, inspection points, and turnover documentation are built around it from the start.

We hold a specified Ra (roughness average) through controlled grinding and polishing, from a bead-blast or #4 satin finish through higher polish where the spec requires it. Mirror-polish work is scoped at quote, since we are a fabricator rather than a dedicated polishing house. Measured Ra verification is documented and included in the quality package on request, alongside the weld maps and passivation certificates.

316L covers most sanitary service. The molybdenum addition resists the chloride pitting that 304L develops under acidic product or caustic CIP chemistry. Step up to AL-6XN when the process or cleaning chemistry carries high chloride concentrations, especially warm chlorides where 316L pits. For aggressive mixed or reducing acid service beyond super-austenitic grades, Hastelloy C-22 and C-276 are the next tier. Send us the cleaning chemistry and operating temperatures and we will walk the selection with you before you lock the spec.

With a 40,000 sq ft stainless-only production space. Tooling, grinding wheels, clamps, work tables, and consumables in that room are dedicated to stainless, and no carbon steel work runs there. Free iron embedded by shared tooling is invisible at shipment and corrodes in service, so we keep it out by separation first, then verify per ASTM A380 on critical-service assemblies before passivation.

When your purchase order calls for it, we provide the records your audit needs: Material Test Reports traced by heat number, weld maps with WPS references for every joint, welder continuity logs, dimensional inspection reports, surface finish (Ra) verification where specified, pickling and passivation certification per ASTM A380/A967, and a Certificate of Conformance to your purchase order. PMI records and radiographic testing reports are available when the spec calls for them.