Pharma washing systems

Safeguard product quality and define the reliability of the entire production chain with Glatt’s pharma washing systems

Washing. Drying. Cooling. Product-specific and clean solutions.

Efficient and validated container cleaning is essential in modern pharmaceutical production, where product safety, batch purity and regulatory compliance must be guaranteed at every step. Glatt offers fully integrated WIP (Wash‑in‑Place) and CIP (Clean‑in‑Place) solutions that automate and standardize the entire cleaning process for containers, IBCs, process equipment and product‑contact components. Designed to eliminate manual work and minimize human error, Glatt pharma washing systems support high‑performance cleaning, optimized hygiene and fully documented results – ensuring safe, reproducible and contamination‑free production environments.

Why a good and automated pharma washing system is key

Manual or fully automatic cleaning?

As the trend in process equipment cleaning is increasingly moving towards fully automated cleaning, Glatt has developed product-specific solutions for tank cleaning that can be adapted to the relevant technical and structural conditions.

WIP and CIP systems provide automated, validated cleaning cycles that ensure repeatability and prevent cross‑contamination – key concerns under global GMP requirements. By eliminating disassembly and manual scrubbing, these systems drastically reduce downtime while improving safety and hygiene standards. Industry guidance emphasizes that cleaning processes must be integrated into the overall equipment design and validated to ensure reliability, traceability, and compliance.

At Glatt, we make sure to integrate these principles into our engineering philosophy, aligning the design of our pharma washing systems with hygienic requirements, product characteristics, and risk‑based quality management. This ensures efficient cleaning and reliable product quality at every processing stage.

Smart cleaning solutions for safe, efficient pharmaceutical manufacturing

Container cleaning has never been easier: Glatt WIP/CIP systems supply all necessary cleaning media – water, detergents, chemicals and compressed air – to process machines and containers. They can clean individual units or centrally support multiple systems. These cleaning modules deliver an automated sequence that includes:

Pre‑rinsing to remove residues
Detergent or chemical washing cycles
High‑pressure rinsing
Final rinsing with purified or WFI water
Forced hot air drying
Clean‑side discharge to avoid recontamination

This controlled, fully programmable process of fully-integrated Glatt pharma washing systems ensures high cleaning efficiency, consistent results and reliable validation – all essential for pharmaceutical environments.

Modular design for maximum flexibility and validated GMP compliance

Glatt WIP/CIP solutions are built with a flexible modular system architecture that adapts to your specific process requirements. Whether you need a compact single-machine module for container cleaning or a fully equipped central cleaning station, Glatt offers:

Fresh‑water or recirculation cleaning
Dosing of one or multiple cleaning agents
High‑surface‑quality, orbitally welded pipes
Fully drainable fittings and hygienic components
Manual, semi‑automatic or fully automatic cleaning operation
Stand‑alone or integrated control systems
Expandable modules for future capacity needs

This modularity ensures cost‑effective implementation while allowing the container cleaning solution to grow with your production demands.

GMP-compliant container cleaning made easy

Compliance with stringent global regulations is a key priority in pharmaceutical manufacturing. WIP and CIP cleaning systems support validated cleaning procedures that are required to meet FDA, EMA and other international standards. Automated cleaning with Glatt pharma washing systems provides the repeatability necessary for validation, while integrated monitoring systems continuously track key parameters such as:

Flow rate
Pressure
Temperature
Chemical concentration
Washing duration

The design of Glatt pharma washing systems incorporates hygienic surfaces, cleanroom‑ready components and efficiently drainable geometries — all essential for meeting GMP design requirements.

Seamless integration of WIP and CIP into process and handling systems

Glatt WIP/CIP pharma washing systems can be integrated seamlessly with Glatt product handling systems, fluid bed units, granulation equipment, blending systems and stainless steel containers. They are fully compatible not only with Glatt equipment, but also with third‑party systems. This makes them ideal for modern, automated pharmaceutical environments with diverse equipment configurations.

What makes Glatt pharma washing systems special?

Washing, drying and cooling in separate cabins arranged one behind/next to the other
Up to 20 containers per shift
Automatic container handover
Manual or automatic opening and closing of flaps in the cabin
Automated selection of the washing solution formulation based on container identification
Wash formula management and wash process documentation

Single-cabin and multi-cabin pharma washing systems

The range of systems extends from simple manual washing stations for the internal and external cleaning of containers to validated, fully automatic washing, drying and cooling stations in single- or multi-cabinet configurations, each with the associated treatment systems for washing solutions.

WIP / CIP Cleaning

Our WIP/CIP cleaning systems supply your process plants with all the necessary cleaning media, offering unlimited flexibility: from the standard version, through custom cleaning modules for specific requirements, to a central cleaning station for multiple plants.

Anything is possible. You can choose between fully automatic CIP cleaning, which eliminates all manual cleaning steps, or a system with semi-automatic WIP cleaning.

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Are you ready to experience a new and integrated way of container cleaning?

Contact our experts today to find the ideal WIP/CIP cleaning solution for your facility and its specific needs for container cleaning.