Wash In Place (WIP) - What is this?

Introduction

There is no legislative distinction between Clean In Place (CIP) and Wash In Place (WIP), however the general industry view on the terminology is that CIP means a totally automatic cleaning sequence with no manual involvement, whereas as WIP includes some manual intervention. In practical terms CIP requires high levels of validation, against WIP which requires less stringent validation.

Usage

Most cleaning requires CIP, although some equipment (e.g. fluid bed dryers, some mills) require manual intervention to complete the clean. These devices may employ WIP. 

Philosophies and Running Costs

Any of the typical philosophies can be used for WIP and the running costs are similar to CIP. The capital costs, project costs and validation costs are less with WIP.