ESP at DSP? How a State of the Art Automated System Revolutionized Dairy Processing

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By: By Rabbi Andrew Gordimer

In the farm country of Reading, PA, a kosher wonder has been born. Created with what can only be termed “Kosher Intelligent Design,” Dietrich’s Specialty Processing, LLC has sharpened and reshaped the cutting edge of kosher systems, setting an example that is hard to match.

Dietrich’s Specialty Processing (hereafter referred to as “DSP” ) is the brainchild of Tom Dietrich and Robert Kline. Although it is in its final stages of construction, DSP opened for business in 2006 and has made quite an impact on the dairy and food ingredients industries. Featuring an array of dairy products (regular and organic milk, butter, buttermilk, cream, ice cream mixes) and innumerable spray-dried offerings, the plant is a one-stop dairy and spray-dried ingredients provider, fully integrated from head-to-toe. With two general processing rooms equipped with liquefiers and full pasteurization lines, a dairy room and two spray-drying systems — all brand new and fully interconnected — DSP has made major strides in the dairy and drying industries in a remarkably short time.

What really brings DSP to the attention of BTUS, however, is its OU program, which is unlike any other.

Prior to constructing DSP, its management — led by Jeff James, DSP’s operations manager — contacted Rabbi Richard Levine, the OU’s rabbinic field representative, for input on the design of a kosher system for the projected new plant, which would process dairy, non-dairy (pareve) and even non-kosher materials, and be kosherized with utmost ease. Mr. James had extensive experience and training on the intricacies of kosher programs, and he had previously worked with Rabbi Levine in such a format. Rabbi Levine and Mr. James labored, with the guidance and cooperation of OU Kosher headquarters, to create a system in which every piece of equipment was designed to be part of an automated, integrated kosherization protocol, with kosherization being part of the defining specifications of all plant mechanisms and operations.

For example, each of DSP’s three processing rooms was equipped with its own, fully-independent CIP system. The CIP automatically runs through each room’s entire piping line, pre-programmed to operate at kosherization temperatures as needed.

Similarly, the spray-dryers were designed to undergo kosherization via CIP, in which boiling water floods each chamber through high-power spray-balls, with the CIP water being automatically re-circulated through each drying system’s dedicated heat exchanger, from which the boiling water again flows through the spray-balls so as to establish a continuous kosherization loop in each chamber. This is an ideal, dream-like kosherization system for most plants; at DSP, it is part of everyday operations.

The most exciting facet of DSP’s kosherization is that it is a totally digital and web-based system.

But first, a very relevant story.

Last winter, when Rabbi Levine braved his way to Reading through a snowstorm to supervise kosherization at DSP, he jokingly remarked, “If only I could do this from home.” Mr. James and his colleagues at the company replied in unison, “You can!” How so? Please keep reading.

DSP’s computer system enables one logged in to the system to view the operation of every piece of equipment, with all details imaginable — temperatures, connections, holding information and more — all in blazing, high-resolution color. It is most similar to watching a video of the plant’s operations. Whereas in most similar facilities the RFR must be present for kosherization, DSP has enabled Rabbi Levine to log in from home and to monitor the plant’s operations at any time. Thus, he can supervise kosherization from out of the plant and be as informed and involved as an RFR or plant operator on the production floor or in the operations room!

Although Rabbi Levine normally supervises kosherization in person, he occasionally — without prior notice — will log in from elsewhere as kosherization is about to begin, suddenly letting the DSP staff know that today’s supervision will be done on-line. And so the kosherization proceeds, with the RFR’s supervision and guidance, working together through each step with the plant staff, as if the RFR were there in person.

There are many more aspects of DSP which are designed for optimum kosher-friendliness and usability.

DSP has already attracted a major clientele, and the list is growing. The OU hopes that DSP’s ultra-flexible kosher program has contributed at least in small measure to the attractiveness of doing business with DSP – and of course, with OU Kosher.

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